Loving To Hate, Hating To Love
by watram
Summary: A backstory to "Third Time's The Charm" by Lady-Of-Victory-Rising. AU post-finale Lit - Jess never came to live in Stars Hollow and never met the Gilmores but Rory now needs some help to get accomodated in Philadelphia when she comes for an internship.
1. Making Contact

**Summary: AU post-finale Literati - Jess never came to live with Luke in Stars Hollow and never met the Gilmores but Rory now needs some help to get accomodated in Philadelphia when she comes for a summer internship at The Inquirer. She loves to hate him, he hates to... well, like her a lot at first, and that's how they roll.**

**A/N: This is a backstory to Lady-Of-Victory-Rising's "Third Time's The Charm". Kàra was so awesome she gave me the idea to write and expand on it and I hope I'll be able to do her justice. Read the aforementioned fic for more background info (and really because it's fantastic). Oh, and I'm rating this T because Jess likes to swear just to annoy Rory.**

**Disclaimer: The Gilmore world is not mine. I still do whatever I like with it - how great is that?**

* * *

"Could you give me two more hours to consider? I'll call you back with my decision... Yes. Thanks. Bye."

Rory Gilmore put her phone down and groaned in frustration.

"Any luck this time, babe?" Lorelai asked, putting a bowl of ice cream in front of her daughter.

"Not really. Why is it so hard to find a room in Philadelphia? It's either too big or too expensive or too far from the Inquirer or they want a contract for at least six months, three is not an option and it doesn't help that I can't take a look and just have to believe the pictures on the internet," she spit out in exasperation. "And this one seemed perfect!"

"So what's wrong?" Lorelai asked confusedly.

"It's available from next Friday."

"Five days after you should be moved in."

"Exactly."

"Honey, I know you'd rather not be a bother to anyone but it's all getting very last minute now and maybe you should take that number Luke left for you, call this Jess if Luke says that there's temporarily a spare room in that place that he lives in, and just have somewhere to stay before you can move to this place," Lorelai motioned to Rory's laptop, "'cause I'm not letting you go anywhere, even to the City of Brotherly Love, if you don't have a secured place to stay."

Rory smirked a little. "You're actually encouraging me to stay in one apartment with a guy, I never thought I'd live to see the day."

"It's Luke's nephew, that's almost family."

"You just like to brag about the fact that you're getting married," Rory grinned to her mother. "It's weird that we've never met him, isn't it?"

"Very weird. There must be some nasty family secret there. Luke talks to him every so often but he never comes to visit, not Luke and not even Liz. I wonder what that's about," Lorelai said, getting thoughtful.

"You are definitely not helping me feel any less awkward about this, Mom."

Lorelai's face was immediately split by a wicked grin. "There's another option!" she exclaimed.

"Oh yeah?"

"The Pennsylvania Gilmores! They've got a mansion about twenty miles away from the city. The last time I've been there was when I was... fourteen, I think. Aunt Murielle was a huge animal lover and kept two Vietnamese pigs in the house and regularly fed them with noodles with raspberry jam."

"Gross!"

"I know. Emily almost had a heart attack when she saw it and I almost sympathised with her. Anyway, she swore that she would never again visit dear Aunt Murielle, but you may have no other choice if you don't find another place to stay."

"I'm calling Jess," Rory stated decisively and reached for the phone again while Lorelai passed her a post-it with _Jess Mariano – Truncheon Books_ and his number scribbled on it.

She dialled.

"_Truncheon Books, Chris speaking."_

"Hi, I'm looking for Jess Mariano," Rory started with a bit of uncertainty. She heard a muffled "_Mariano, some chick for you_," and an incomprehensible reply by someone she assumed was Jess.

"_I don't think he can talk right now. He's smoking,"_ came Chris's simple reply, as if that explained everything.

Rory frowned but decided to push it a bit more. "Well actually, my name is Rory Gilmore and this is kind of urgent. I'm Luke's... can you just mention Luke to him?" she said and waited until the man on the line repeated what she'd said.

"_Hello,"_ a different voice said.

"Hi, this is Rory Gilmore."

"_Hey." _

She noted he didn't have the decency to introduced himself. "So, I know you've talked to Luke yesterday-"

"_Yup_."

"...and he told you what my situation is and I'm calling because he said you have a room that I could temporarily crush in if I have trouble finding a place to stay in Philly. Now, the deal is that I found a place but I can only move in there on Friday and I'm starting my internship on Monday so the latest I have to arrive in the city is Sunday. So, if I could-"

"_Okay_," he cut her off.

"Okay?"

"_Yeah, if you're not planning on leaving with our stereo-_"

"Good, we're already establishing our relations based on trust."

"_I'm sorry, am I supposed to trust you after a minute of a phone conversation?" _he asked teasingly. She liked his voice. There was only one, very unsophisticated adjective that she could think of to describe it. Sexy.

"Well, we're almost family, it would be advisable," she replied, her tone also teasing.

"_Sorry, I still think Luke's engagement is some kind of a joke. I mean, I know he's been pining for a Lorelai Gilmore for years, he let that much slip once, but for him to actually do something about it should qualify as a miracle_."

It actually bothered her that he spoke of Luke with such condescension. In that moment, he started losing his freshly acquired brownie points. And it was going to get worse.

"You certainly do have a lot of faith in your uncle. I wonder how you know him so well since you never come to Stars Hollow."

"_Oh, I do come every once in a while, I'm just kept under cover being the black sheep in the family and all. Anyway, if you can deal with three guys for a couple of days, one of whom hums The Smiths all the time,"_ he emphasised, more for the benefit of someone else in his room than for her, _"then, sure, you can crash here."_

"You have someone humming The Smiths there?" she inquired, feeling a little smile tugging at her lips. That band was her most recent obsession. It almost filled the void in her life that Logan created by proposing and breaking up with her all of a sudden.

Of course, Mr. Mariano had no idea of the emotional importance of The Smiths to Miss Gilmore and answered in his usual, rather careless fashion. "_Yes, and it's fucking killing me_."

"The humming or The Smiths?"

"_Both." _

"How can The Smiths be possibly killing you?"

"_Well, first of all,_ _Morrissey can't sing_." Dead. That's what Jess Mariano was in her mind.

"The man's a genius!"

"_You're crazy_." She knew she was, she just really didn't appreciate being told that by someone who never even met her.

"And you are cocky and have no taste in music."

"_Ouch_," he answered with a sarcastic undertone. "_I've been told that before_."

"Then there must be some truth in it, mustn't it?" she said pointedly. "Thanks for letting me crash, I'll be there on Sunday, probably around 3 p.m." she continued icily.

"_You've got the address?"_

"I'll get it from Luke. Bye."

Not waiting for his response, she hang up, put the phone down, glared at it briefly and soon was met with her mother's curious gaze.

"Hon... did you just get into an argument with the guy?"

"He offended Morrissey!" Rory exclaimed.

"Oh. That, indeed, calls for a guillotine," Lorelai confirmed dramatically.

"Lane would be proud of me," Rory said still exasperated, letting Lorelai's statement pass.

"Look at the bright side, at least he knew who Morrissey was."

"Are you defending him?"

"No, of course not. I'm just pointing out that it seemed like a very weird conversation. You just bickered like you've known each other for years."

"It just... sort of... came naturally, I guess."

"I've been saying that about me and Luke for years, see how that turned out."

Rory looked at her mother thoughtfully. "Mom, are you seriously making implications about me and Luke's annoying nephew? That's just sick. And the guy is awful, really. He smokes, swears, condescends and doesn't like The Smiths."

Lorelai gave her daughter a sad smile, one filled with motherly concern. "He sounds terrible," she said with a shadow of mocking in her voice. "No, fruit of my loins, I'm just saying that it's been over a year since you and Logan broke up and it's about time for you to move on."

"I have moved on," Rory argued. "I'm over Logan. I just haven't met anyone... you know, compatible enough since then."

The statement earned a sceptical look and an "okay" from the elder Gilmore.

"Can we stop discussing my love life now?"

"Or lack thereof?" Lorelai added helpfully.

Rory only groaned in response and picked up the phone to confirm that she wanted the apartment from Friday.

* * *

As embarrassing as it was, her curiosity took over and she googled him later that night. She already knew from Luke that he published one novel but it wasn't anything mainstream and she found some rambling about _The Subsect_ on some blog. Not very helpful. Truncheon's website was a disgrace. The only Jess Mariano she found on facebook was a female from Nevada. The secrets of the Life And Death Brigade seemed easily accessible in comparison to information on Jess Mariano. It frustrated her, she was a journalist and she wasn't even able to track a person, a writer to that. No picture anywhere. But he was Luke's nephew after all and Liz's son, she knew she should be expecting blue eyes, dark blonde to light brown hair and plaid. Definitely plaid. A baseball cap would probably be an exaggeration.

Not that any of it mattered.

She was going to stay with Jess and his roommates for five days, then preferably get away from his annoying presence.

What mattered was that she was going to spend three months in Philadelphia on an internship at The Inquirer, one of the top newspapers in the country. It was an opportunity of a lifetime and she wasn't going to waste any time thinking about boys at the moment. No. They were only trouble anyway.

Reasoning like that, she ducked under her bed to select some books to take with her and read over the summer.


	2. First Second Impressions

**A/N: Well, aren't I a regular Speedy Gonzales! Thanks you so much for the lovely reviews for the first chapter. Keep them coming, I'll keep the story coming, we'll all be happy.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, I'm borrowing other people's toys.**

* * *

Philadelphia welcomed her with the cloudburst of the decade which meant that by the time she found the address that Luke gave her, she was completely soaked and her dripping hair was all over her face, which only added to the dramatic effect created by her smudged mascara. In that state, with her luggage covered in plastic bags for protection, she rang the doorbell to Truncheon Books. The business was closed but after a moment the door opened, and a light-brown haired young man in plaid opened the door for her. She almost laughed hysterically at the sight, thinking how accurate she was in her expectations when he spoke up. It wasn't the voice she heard on the phone.

"Rory, right?"

She nodded mutely in response.

"Um, well... come on in, I guess," the guy let her through the door and helped her to get her suitcase over the threshold. "I'm Matthew," he said and extended his hand to her as soon as he closed the door.

"Nice to meet you," she answered, slightly out of breath and shook his hand, getting his sleeve wet in the process.

"You know, you kind of remind me of Audrey Hepburn in _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. Bar Cat."

"I don't feel particularly Audrey right now but thank you. And I can't believe I'm talking to a guy who just referenced _Breakfast at Tiffany's_," she said with a smile.

"Oh. To be honest, I watched it for a girl," he admitted.

"How did that work out for you?"

"Not too well, but I'm still working on it. Anyway, you need to change so let's go upstairs," he said, took her suitcase, ignoring her already weak protests and led her up a ridiculous number of stairs, passing the Truncheon office on the way.

They entered a cosy living room with a wall covered in bookshelves, something Rory noticed immediately, a TV and a large couch.

"Kitchen," Matthew pointed, "bathroom, Chris's room, my room, your room and Jess's room," he showed her from left to right. "Chris is out, and this," he opened the far right door unceremoniously, "is Jess," he presented, as if he was showing her a museum piece. "He's on a writing binge so he's not responding, we only leave him a giant mug of tea from time to time and some pizza." Rory curiously peeked through the door Matt was holding open.

She saw a dark-haired young man, sitting cross-legged in the middle of a bed, typing furiously on his laptop, surrounded by, what looked like a sea of books, records and clothing, all mixed together in a very untidy pile spreading across the small room.

His appearance didn't meet her expectations at all, to say the least. 'Beautiful' was the first word that crossed her mind. She surprised herself there, she never thought of real life men as beautiful. In books, they were. Not in real life though. Dean was cute. Logan was handsome, fetching. He was beautiful. And his messy curls seemed to be begging to be ruffled. He wore concentration well, too.

She snapped out of it, remembering that he was incredibly annoying. She scolded herself lightly, not too much; at twenty-three she knew herself well enough to be aware that sometimes she was just attracted to guys, experienced pure, physical desire. It was natural. Not that she would ever admit to feeling like that. Rory Gilmore that the world knew was beyond such earthly matters, she was all sense, not sensibility.

"He'll come out to say hello at some point," Matthew's assuring voice reached her ears. He closed the door, still eliciting no response whatsoever from Jess. "You should really get changed into something dry, you're all red now."

"Yeah," Rory said with a tight smile, flushing even more. "Thanks, Matt."

* * *

Over two hours, a conversation with Lorelai and a huge cup of coffee later, Rory was also sitting on the bed in her room, already in dry clothing and her laptop connected to the internet in front of her, reading the news. A light knock on the door startled her and after she uttered a "come in," together with a rambling non-sentence about how awkward it is to let someone in a room that is not hers, no one other than Mariano entered the room.

"Hi," he started, a smirk appearing on his face out of nowhere.

"Hi," Rory answered in an uncomfortable, short moment when she wasn't sure whether she should get up and shake his hand or stay put and nonchalant as he was. Fortunately, he quickly took two steps and sat down in a chair next to the bed.

"You found your way okay?"

"Yeah. The weather is dreadful though," she motioned towards the window that was being rhythmically hit by large drops of water.

"I kind of like the rain," Jess said, with a one-armed shrug. "So, did Matt show you around the apartment yet?"

"Briefly."

"Okay," he said shortly and looked at her with an unreadable expression for a moment. "Don't be surprised if you find a bowl on the staircase, the roof leaks sometimes. And if you want hot water in the shower, you've got to turn the tap thing on to the max first, then when it's already hot you can change it to the shower head," he said and Rory nodded, trying to memorise the instructions. "Oh, and if you have a guy over here, I'd advise to put some pillows under the door. The sound carries," he said casually, causing her to gape at him.

"Why are you automatically assuming I'm a... a whore?"

"I'm assuming you're a whore?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Well, it seems like it," Rory answered angrily. "I came to the city today, I'm only supposed to stay here until Friday so you're basically implying that I'm easy."

"Jeez, I didn't mean to offend you. You might as well have a boyfriend visiting or something."

"No, no boyfriend visiting. No boyfriend at all." She didn't actually know why she added that. But she also didn't miss the light spark in his eye when she said that.

"Is that so?" he asked, that damned smirk back on his face.

"Yes. I'm working for my career now, relationships are too much trouble."

"I totally agree."

"You do?" she asked. She had no idea why her voice sounded slightly disappointed. She met him five minutes earlier and she already wasn't quite in control of herself. That wasn't normal. That was dangerous. And weird. That was probably because he annoyed her so much.

"Yeah."

She waited for him to expand but he didn't. She was infuriated to no end.

"Well, good," she snapped finally. "I don't see why anybody would want to be with you."

"Freaking hell, woman," he said putting up his hands defensively. "You've known me for entire..." he ostentatiously looked at his watch, "four minutes and eleven seconds, why do you hate me so much?"

"I told you already on the phone," she muttered, suddenly getting embarrassed about her outburst.

"Uh huh," Jess grunted and looked so deeply into her eyes that she wanted to run and hide, preferably in the embrace of her mother. She felt naked, despite the fact that he was only looking into her eyes. She forced herself to keep up the eye contact until he finally spoke in a full sentence."Are you so up front with every person you meet? 'Cause you don't strike me as the kind of person who is. It seems to me like this is your defence mechanism against... I don't know what exactly."

Rory shook her head, her cheeks flushing. He was completely right. But she didn't want to answer his question directly. "I'm sorry," she said, shooting him an apologetic look. "I'm just really stressed out. New city, new job, it's a lot to take in. I guess I snapped."

"You're forgiven. Let's start again, shall we?" he said and offered her his hand. "Jess Mariano."

"Rory Gilmore," she obliged.

He let go of her hand after holding it for a barely noticeable second longer than necessary. She, however, became acutely aware of it when a tingling feeling spread across her arm. And she always thought that it was some cheesy product of romance writers' imaginations.

"So you're Lorelai's daughter," Jess started when their hands parted. "What kind of name is that, anyway?" he asked mockingly, instantly bringing them back to square one as Rory fixed him with her withering stare.

She promised herself to never give him another chance again.


	3. Settling In And Becoming Unsettled

**A/N: I have re-written this chapter so many times I think it's time to publish it. Please don't lynch me for Jess's views on politics (even if I share them). Oh, and thank you so much for all the reviews, none of my stories got so many before!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. An unhealthy obsession with Mr. Mariano, maybe.**

* * *

The first day of work was positively exhausting. When she got to the apartment above Truncheon Books, she headed straight to the room that was temporarily hers, took the high heels off her sore feet and sank onto the comfortable bed. Quite possibly she drifted off a little until she heard a knock on the door. With her permission it opened and revealed Chris's face.

"Hey."

"Hi," Rory smiled, sitting up and hugging a pillow to her chest.

"You're tired?"

"A little."

"Well, me and Matt are watching some lame-o western on TV, we were wondering if you'd like to join us. It's fun, we make all the shooting noises and Matt occasionally cries like a little girl, then Jess mocks him for that for weeks... And there'll be pizza," he tempted.

"You made it sound irresistible," she grinned, getting up from the bed. "I'll be there in five minutes, just need to change out of these work clothes."

"Cool. Hawaiian or pepperoni?"

"Preferably both."

"A girl who's not on diet. I like you," he nodded appreciatively and exited the room, closing the door behind.

She had to admit that from the short interactions she had with Chris and Matt, she liked them too. They seemed the kind of crazy people her mother would absolutely love and didn't provoke any non-platonic feelings in her so she could be perfectly relaxed around them.

She put on a pair of worn jeans and a green t-shirt with some environmental slogan she bought to support a campaign at Yale and went to the living room to find the two boys already in front of the TV, mercilessly mocking every move of the small-screen heroes.

"Look at that, that's what I call stealth," Chris stated.

"He's a thief," Matt added on his part.

"What are you talking about, he's the good guy!"

"But he's got a totally different horse than everyone else in the town, and it moves soundlessly, he must have stolen it from that native tribe that lives down the river."

"How do you know he didn't buy the horse?" Rory chimed in with amusement, sitting down in an armchair.

"Oh, you didn't see the beginning. They don't trade. All of their interactions involve some bloody murder."

"Except for the sheriff's daughter. She lived."

"Only because that guy with two feathers liked her."

"The one who looked liked a woman?"

"No, the... wait, he's gonna shoot!" At that point the two guys made pistols with their fingers and - as promised, made shooting noises. Rory laughed out loud while Matt and Chris dropped their hands in disappointment.

"I can't believe he missed."

"He had to, otherwise the movie would have ended after twenty minutes," Rory stated.

Matt shifted his eyes to her, amazement shining in them. "Believe me, the intensity would have made up for the length."

Chris patted his friend on the head and turned towards Rory. "Don't worry, he just gets really into this stuff."

"I can see why," she replied with mock seriousness.

They continued the light-hearted banter for a while, then the pizza arrived, which was followed by a search for money across the entire apartment, but the boys refused to let Rory chip in, saying that it was her first pizza with them and it had to be their treat. They continued to watch the movie until Jess entered the room and joined them on the sofa. It didn't escape Matt and Chris's attention that after their roommate's entry Rory fell quiet and seemed a little tense.

"Did we miss something here?" Matt asked eventually, looking from Rory to Jess and back. "Did you two hook up last night or what?"

Jess only smirked and shook his head while Rory turned red and exclaimed a hasty, "No!"

"Look, no offence," Matthew raised his hands defensively. "There just seems to be some weird air between you and I'm a curious creature, I think we all know that."

"Nothing you should worry about, Matt," Jess said.

"I don't know about that. We like Rory, and knowing your track record with female flatmates and women in general-"

"Matthew," Jess warned rather harshly, effectively shutting Matt up and leaving Rory curious.

They continued to watch the movie with Chris and Matthew's running commentary, but the other two remained silent for the rest of the evening, occasionally stealing glances at each other, Jess's full of genuine interest and amusement, Rory's tense and subconsciously fascinated.

* * *

She woke up in the middle of the night, feeling a drop of water falling on her neck. Another one fell when she was lazily opening her eyes and another landed on her head when she started sitting up. She reached out to turn the bedside lamp on and squinted her eyes when the light blinded her. A moment of getting used to the sudden brightness in the room was enough for her to see that the ceiling was leaking, and to realise that the constant rustle was in fact pouring rain. And here she was thinking that it's always sunny in Philadelphia.

She looked around helplessly, then gathered her sheets and pillow and padded her way toward the door. The living room was well lit too, and the couch she was hoping to crash on was occupied by no one else but Jess Mariano and a mountain of books, many of which were open.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, briefly looking up at her and raising a brow before returning to a book he was currently browsing.

"I woke up," she half-moaned. "The ceiling's leaking."

"Shit. It never leaked in that room before."

"Well, it is now. What time is it?" Rory asked, looking around the room confusedly, searching for a place to put her sheets, pillow, and preferably herself.

"Around three."

"And you are..." she trailed off, sitting on the other end of the couch and burying her face in her pillow.

"Looking for inspiration," he said, motioning towards his books. "You don't happen to know that thing Kafka wrote about city people not sleeping because they're fools, do you?"

"I do know that," she frowned in concentration. "That was in one of the short stories, when he was talking about how the people in his village regarded the city and it ended with 'how could fools get tired!' That's... argh, I can't remember, what story it was!" she groaned in frustration. "I'm pretty sure I had it in the _Metamorphosis and Other Stories_ collection though," she added as an afterthought.

The look of appreciation he shot her was impossible to miss and she smiled a little in response while he got up and found the said book on the shelf and flicked through the pages to find the desired passage.

"You read a lot?" he asked.

"Lately not as much as I would like," she admitted. "Mostly work-related stuff. But there's nothing I like more than a good book."

"Define a good book," he requested with a small smirk, and she couldn't help but feel that on some level he was mocking her.

As always when forced to speak about things that mattered, particularly to people who looked at her like their gaze pierced right through her, she started stuttering.

"I... I don't know, really. I don't think there's a... single definition. It has to draw you in, somehow. Like... There's Steinbeck, Marquez, Orwell... Dickens, Rand-"

"As in Ayn?" he interrupted and she nodded enthusiastically in response. "You like your stuff political, don't you?"

"I do," she shrugged lightly. "Why does that sound like an insult from your mouth?"

"Firstly, because Rand was a nut. Secondly, because politics is all a vile power struggle in suits, instead of armour. Effing energy-consuming and futile."

"But it concerns you and everyone around you!"

"Fuck that," Jess said simply. "Most of it is talk that usually turns into broken promises."

"Oh great, my mother would love you," she muttered irritably. "You are disturbingly cynical."

"Just realistic. And you are naive," he challenged.

"I'm not naive, I just have a little bit of optimism in me!" she exclaimed, aggravated by his confident tone. It was too late for her to have a conversation like that anyway, she didn't have caffeine in her system.

In her own exasperation, she failed to see how much Jess seemed to be enjoying teasing her like that. "Being positive about politics is a damn waste of optimism," he stated easily.

"You know what," she sighed. "You can talk, I give you that. We can return to this conversation when you're socially mature."

"I don't expect that to happen before Friday." He was clearly fighting a grin now, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Well..." Rory wasn't expecting that answer. "Mom and Luke's wedding then. Or some Thanksgiving, years on from now."

He smirked smugly, eyebrows raised. "You got it." He got up, approached a shelf with CDs and ran his fingers over their backs before extracting one. "In the meantime..." he handed her The Clash's debut album, "track two."

"_Remote Control_."

"Exactly. Who needs the Parliament, making laws all day, they're all fat and old-"

"Queuing to the House of Lords," Rory finished for him and noticed, this time with delight, the same look of appreciation that he wore for a moment before. "As much as I love The Clash, I still think that's juvenile."

"That's your right, I guess. But see what politics does to you - it was meant to be a conversation about literature and it turned political."

"You started it. And I should really get some sleep, 'cause I have a press conference to attend in the morning."

"You're gonna be okay on the couch?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really."

"Well then. Goodnight," she said, lying down and adjusting her pillow under her head while he gathered his stuff from the table.

Five minutes later, having already taken a plastic bowl to put in her room to prevent the bed from soaking and then brushing his teeth, he found her with her eyes closed, breathing steadily.

A small but genuine smile played on his lips when he turned off the light and disappeared in his room.


	4. The Ex Day

A/N: Not much Lit this time, I hope you will still live ;) Thank you so much for the reviews guys, they really mean a world!

Disclaimer: Gilmore? Gilmore who?

* * *

Logan left her a voicemail, which she stupidly listened to during lunchtime. It threw her off balance for the rest of the day. Opened the wound that she nursed for the entire year, the wound he inflicted on her ending their relationship the way he did. Even if he said that it was no big deal, he was just curious about how she was, they were always great friends after all.

Which was bullshit, great friends don't casually date, like they did for the first few months.

At work, she decided to mask it. Pretend nothing happened. She was more active and bubbly than usually, bringing everyone coffee, then cookies, then making sure every single printer had enough paper and ink. Getting any writing done was out of the question.

She only let her face fall when she entered the apartment above Truncheon. She washed her hands and face and entered the kitchen, hoping for some steaming, strong coffee, preferably with sugar.

She stopped in her tracks at the sight of an impeccably dressed, tall blonde standing next to the stove, apparently cooking something.

"Uh... hi," Rory started awkwardly. "Something smells nice."

"Thanks. I'm Karen," she extended her hand for Rory to shake. "And you must be..."

"Rory."

"Chris's new girl, I guess?"

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm just... staying here," Rory adopted a fake smile. The girl's condescending tone, plus the fashionable clothes, in contrast to her own plain work uniform weren't exactly making her day any better.

"Oh, okay. Sorry. Now excuse me," she said, putting whatever she cooked on a plate with a proud smile, "I have to feed my man."

Rory frowned as Karen exited the kitchen and then opened the door to Jess's room with her elbow.

There was a bitter taste in Rory's mouth. The night before she had an almost decent conversation with Jess, who, by the way, claimed to be opposed to relationships, and now brought home someone like _that_.

She plopped on the sofa and took out her cell phone. She listened to Logan's message again. And again. She stared at the ceiling, contemplating whether she should contact him back, and if so, how should she do it. She didn't feel like talking to him. But not responding at all would be rude plus he might take it the wrong way. Think that she was still pining. She wasn't. She did, for some time, but she was done with that now.

It must have been at least fifteen minutes that she lay motionlessly on the sofa until her thoughts were interrupted by Karen storming out of Jess's room, an untouched meal in on hand, a cigarette in the other.

"Want some nachos?" she stopped by Rory, seemingly fuming, her full lips turned into thin lines. Some ash from her cigarette fell onto Rory's skirt.

"Uh... no, thanks." She picked herself up to a sitting position and winced at the sound of the plate being thrown on the kitchen counter. The next thing she knew, Karen was out of the door, furiously slamming them. A second later, a livid-looking Jess with a cigarette of his own entered the living room, stopped by the apartment door and leaned his head on it.

"Girlfriend?" Rory asked from her spot on the couch.

"Ex," he barked at her before making his way back to his room and slamming that door too.

* * *

Chris and Matt got home about an hour later, while Rory was sitting in the kitchen, reading a paper while eating dinner that consisted of canned soup and potato wedges.

They entered the kitchen to say hi and rummage through the refrigerator in search for something edible. Then, Matt halted, looking at the plate full of nachos with wide eyes.

"Shit. Karen alert, Chris."

"No!"

"Yes. You didn't make this, Rory, did you?" he made sure.

"Oh, no. She was here, left about an hour ago."

"And you were here?"

"Yeah. Well, I came home when she was cooking."

"Shit," Chris hissed. "Sorry you had to meet her."

"Great, knowing them we now have an angry Mariano in self-inflicted home arrest. Let's see if he even opens the door," Matt proposed, motioning towards Jess's room.

The boys made their way over to the door and knocked, receiving a "I don't wanna talk!" from Jess.

"You want a beer?" Matt shouted back.

"No!"

"Tequila?"

Silence. They returned to the kitchen, sat next to Rory with deflated faces and put three bottles of beer on the table.

"Okay," Chris started. "We need you to tell us what exactly happened here."

"Well... I don't really know much," she said, swallowing some soup. "I came back from the paper and she was in here cooking, we said hi-"

"Did she have that sly smile and say something about cooking for _her_ _man_?" Matt asked scornfully.

"Exactly."

"God, I hate it when she does that," Chris agreed.

"That's beside the point, he's not 'her man' anymore," Matthew corrected.

"True. What happened next?" Chris urged on.

"She took the food to his room, stayed there for some time and then stormed out, she wanted to give me the nachos but I refused so she dumped them here and left the apartment. Slamming the door."

"Ugh! She's such a -"

"Matt, mind your language," Chris warned his friend.

"Witch! I was going to say witch!"

"Sure."

"Do you think she wanted to get back together with him?"

"Doubt that. She probably just had no one else to screw today," Matt stated with disgust.

"Uh, guys," Rory chimed in. "I don't want to seem like I'm prying but I'm kind of curious here."

"Right. Well, the tale of Jess and Karen isn't particularly pretty."

"Yup. Doesn't fit into the top billion love stories ever."

"Can I tell it?" Matt asked.

"Go on."

"Okay. So, she moved in here, what, three years ago."

"Two and a half," Chris corrected, taking a gulp of his beer.

"Two and a half. They started sleeping together about a month after that. She actually made a pass on Chris first, but he was with Rosie back then."

Chris nodded in confirmation. "By the way, I checked my Facebook today and she sent me a friend request."

Rory raised her brows. "That's ironic, 'cause my ex called today out of the blue as well."

"Thank God I have no exes to mess with my head," Matt mumbled. "But Chris, that doesn't count, you just haven't logged in in a month, that's your own fault for finding out today."

"Whatever. I don't care anymore," Chris took a few big gulps of beer. "Continue with the story."

"Where was I?"

"At the beginning," Rory said.

"Right, so, they kept it totally casual for months until Jess asked her out properly and they started dating. They were all really couple-y for some time, never a good idea to be roommates with people like that, by the way, until she started travelling for work. Long story short, she had issues with them being exclusive, which was how Jess wanted it and there was a huge blow out when he found out she cheated with like, four guys. There may or may have not been an affair with a girl as well, but that we're not actually sure of. Anyway, Karen moved out, but two months later she came crawling back to him, and he must have been high or something 'cause he took her back. Then she cheated again, and he got so frustrated that he slept with someone else as well, and on Christmas Day last year she dumped him, telling him that she thought more of him. We haven't heard from her until today."

By the end of Matt's story, Rory's face was contorted in shock. "That's kind of... psychotic."

"Tell me about it. The woman's crazy. Just... Bleugh!"

"Karen."

"That's the word I was looking for."

Despite feeling kind of sorry for Jess, Rory felt obliged to point out something. "But that's kind of his fault too, for choosing to date someone who's such a flake, right?"

The boys only nodded with not much real conviction.

* * *

After some more consideration (and two beers with Matt and Chris), she called Logan back. She got his answering machine, and before she could give any thought to what to do now, the stupid beep resounded.

"... Hi, Logan, you called, so... I guess I'm calling you back. You're probably out, I should have known that. Anyway, I'm good, really, really good, in fact. I'm starting grad school, so, you know, I'm in Philadelphia for the summer, I got an internship at the Inquirer. I've just started but it's pretty amazing... Oh, and Mom and Luke are finally getting married in August. Otherwise, not much has changed. I feel like an idiot telling this to your answering machine. Call me if you really want to but... I don't really want to make that a regular occurrence. I hope you understand that. Okay. Bye."

She ended the call and groaned in frustration. This was stressful. Did Logan really just call her to see how she was? After a year? For the sake of finding out, she actually hoped he would call her back.

The bathroom was currently unoccupied, so she took a nice, hot shower, relishing in the smell of her camomile shampoo. Her cell phone was on a shelf under the mirror, just in case Logan called.

She was in the kitchen, making herself a toast, when she noticed with the corner of her eye that Jess left his bedroom for the first time in hours and sneaked into the bathroom.

Halfway through drinking her last cup of coffee of the day, the peanut butter toast already devoured, she froze, hearing the distant sound of her ringtone. Mumbling some mild cuss words, the only kind that she was capable of uttering, she jumped out of the stool and about three seconds later she was knocking on the bathroom door.

"Jess! I really need to take that call! Please give me my phone!" she whined desperately.

"I'm in the fucking shower, Rory!" he yelled back.

"But I've been waiting for this call all evening!"

"Who is that, your boss?"

"My ex!"

She heard the water inside stop running and the door opened just enough for Jess's hand with her cell phone to emerge. By that time, it stopped ringing.

"Just make sure he's worth talking to, exes are a pain in the ass," came Jess's voice from behind the door.

"About that... are you okay?"

"If you feel sorry for me I certainly won't be."

"Fine," she murmured and walked away, offended by his curt tone, this one time she was actually trying to be nice.

* * *

Logan left her a message. He said that if she didn't really want to talk, and they tried calling each other three times now, unsuccessfully, then maybe it would be better to leave it that way. He was doing okay, too, and he was happy for her.

She listened to the voicemail a few times, exhaled loudly and decided to read something that would take her mind off things completely. Finding nothing satisfying in her own suitcase, she resolved to borrow something from the boys' extensive living room library.

She just didn't realise that the notes she would find in the copy of _Anna Karenina_ she picked out would do quite the opposite of taking her far away from any boy troubles.


	5. Breaking In

A/N: You know, after working on Of One Eventful Evening, it's nice to write something as silly as this. Sorry it's been so long for this story, I'll try to be better. Review?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

As soon as she started reading, she was pretty sure she knew who the book belonged to.

There was something about the notes in the margins that just screamed Jess Mariano, even if she didn't know him all that well.

They were also surprisingly relevant and well-observed, so rather than reading the actual novel, Rory somehow, effortlessly, read through over 800 margins. At 3.30 a.m. she was in the living room, snooping for more.

But every book that caught her attention, opened – proved disappointing. A copy of The Fountainhead was absolutely note-free. So were all the other, admittedly interesting books on the shelves with a complete mix of what she deemed literature and not-quite. There were four other shelves, neatly arranged by author, alphabetically, with a scarily wide choice of fantasy and science fiction. They all had initials M.W. on the first page, and she didn't have much interest in them, at least not at that particular moment.

With frustration, she momentarily contemplated going to bed and trying to sleep, but the option seemed somehow completely unappealing and then her eyes landed on the door of the room on the far right.

Her eyes widened and she bit her lip.

Cons: It was crazy. It could be considered breaking and entering and stealing. He could wake up and that would be the embarrassment of her lifetime.

Pros: There were _books_ with _notes_ there. On the floor - as she remembered vividly - easily accessible.

So maybe the pros were slightly outnumbered, but it was late at night; she was a Gilmore, so the crazy factor she could easily explain by genetics; and most importantly, she was on her Book Hunger.

Tentatively, she approached Jess's door and, still hesitantly, tapped her finger on it. If he was awake, he would probably react in one way or another. He didn't.

Rory put her hand on the door knob and pressed down, praying that the hinges wouldn't screech. She was in luck.

She stood in the doorframe for a few seconds, the lamp in the living room providing just enough lightning to see the outlines of every object in the room, including Jess on his bed, facing – fortunately – the other way. There were indeed a few stacks of books on the floor, and a whole bookstand, but to get there she would have to walk around the bed and stand right in front of his face. She wasn't quite that crazy.

So she took a few cautious steps, feeling her heartbeat quicken as she did so, and kneeled down next to a pile. She opened a random novel, and with a small smile noted that it was full of scribbles. Another one – Wolfe, as she was barely able to make out in the dim light, came complete with margin notes, too. She started looking through the mini-collection, every few seconds gazing up to Jess's back, clad in a black T-shirt. _Nice_, she noted absentmindedly, already looking back down at the books.

But then the inevitable happened and he stirred, making her freeze in her spot, all of her except her stupid, pounding heart.

The next thing she knew, he was rolling over and his arm landed dangerously close to her face, hanging off the bed.

Fear-induced paralysis took over her body for a small eternity. The funny thing was – her brain was working at full speed. She just couldn't make herself move. And then it downed on her, with frightening clarity, that she just broke into a room of a guy she knew for four days, who was one of the most annoying creatures living on the planet despite being a writer, and who was admittedly very hot. Even in his sleep.

That thought snapped her out of it and with wide eyes and a look of panic on her face, she all but jumped to her feet, grabbed the first paperback that was within her reach and took a few fast steps towards the door. When she closed the door behind herself, flinching in the process, that was when she allowed herself to breathe again. And look down to her loot.

The cover read: Ernest Hemingway, _A Farewell To Arms_.

* * *

She woke up with her face on page 228. She groaned and got up, feeling very lousy, yet rather amazed that something Hemingway-related managed to keep her interest for that long. She must have got no more than an hour and a half of sleep. And now it was time to get ready for work.

In the hallway, she ran into Matthew who was pounding on the other two guys' doors, waking them up.

"Morning Rory," he smiled at her and she reciprocated weakly.

"Morning."

"Matt, how many times do I have to tell you that I can fucking wake up on my own?" Jess's voice growled before he opened the door of his room and discovered that his friend was already gone, instead he was facing Rory who was just passing on her way to the bathroom. She winced, hearing his swearing first thing in the morning. "Hi," he said to her and frowned. "You look nice. What's with your face?"

"What?"

He turned her around by the shoulders and pushed her a couple of steps to the nearest mirror.

She moaned at the sight of her own reflection. Not only her eyes were red and blurry, but there was a clear imprint of crumpled paper on her cheek.

"What did you _do_ all night?" he raised his eyebrows.

She couldn't really get out a word, half in embarrassment, half in her normal morning grogginess, so she just mumbled something unintelligible and examined the stupid imprint in the mirror, rubbing it in attempt to get rid of it, and by the time she turned around, the bathroom door was closing.

"Jess!"

"I won't be long!" he only shouted back, but the chuckle in his voice was obvious. She glared at the door with gritted teeth and clenched fists.

"Morning, Rory," Chris stepped out of his room, yawning and stretching deliciously. "Good night's sleep?"

Wonderful. Wonderful indeed.

* * *

When she got back to Truncheon after work, there was no one in the living space of the apartment. When she opened the door to her room, however, she found Jess standing in the middle of her bed with a putty knife in his hand.

She stared, opening and closing her mouth before anything came out. "Wha- what are you doing?"

"Well, hello to you too," he spoke, not even gracing her with a glance. "It's supposed to rain again so Chris is on the roof and we're leak-proofing it," he motioned to the grey cement on the ceiling.

"Couldn't you get a guy?"

"I'm sorry, are you mistaking me for a woman?"

Oh no, she wasn't. Especially when his shirt was riding up. That belt of his didn't really serve any actual purpose, did it? She swallowed thickly and took a few steps forward, resolutely shifting her gaze to the ceiling.

"I mean a professional. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but first it was water, I would rather avoid dry cement falling on my face next."

"It won't be," he said simply, but she shot him a dubious look as Chris's steps ruffled over their heads. "I promise."

"Fine," Rory said. She walked over to her suitcase to grab a pair of jeans and a T-shirt to change into. Before she headed to the bathroom to change, though, she stopped in her tracks and looked back up to the boy standing in the middle of the bed. Arrogant jerk or not, not only did he give her a place to stay but was also fixing the roof over her head. And he _did_ write all those notes. Maybe he deserved a little kindness from her after all.

"Hey, Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"I... How old were you when you first read _Anna Karenina_?"

"I don't know. Around fifteen, I guess. Why?"

"Nothing... I found a copy on a book shelf in the living room. It's got notes in the margins. I figured it was yours."

"Probably."

"They were interesting. The notes. I wanted to ask you about what you wrote about Kitty when... Actually, let me go and change first," she cut herself off. "Do you want a cup of coffee?"

He looked at her, seemingly dumbfounded by her sudden friendliness towards him. She could see it on his face clearly, and it made her stomach tighten in guilt.

"Two sugars, no milk," he said.

"Give me five minutes," she flashed him a smile and exited the room.

* * *

"Rory, have you seen Jess?" Matt's voice bellowed from behind the door.

"I'm in here!"

Matthew swung the door open and looked suspiciously at Jess, leaning back on his elbows on Rory's bed; and Rory, leaning against the windowsill, her arms crossed on her chest and her jaw set in a stubborn expression. "What are you doing?" Matt asked with confusion.

"Arguing," Jess explained lazily.

"About?"

"The Importance Of Being Earnest."

"As in the play or generally?"

"Both," Jess answered.

"Is he always this impossible?" Rory addressed Matt, making Jess smirk.

"Most of the time," Matt confirmed.

"So how exactly can you stand him?"

"I'm still here, you know," Jess muttered, only to be ignored by the other two.

"He makes damn good spaghetti Bolognese."

"That I do."

"Did I miss a memo about a family meeting?" Chris asked sarcastically, joining Matthew in the doorframe.

"Hey," Rory smiled. "Now that you mention it, there is something I need to talk to you about."

"Me?"

"All three of you."

"Is this a bedroom, living room or kitchen kind of conversation?"

"Living room."

"After you, then, Rory," Matthew said, curtsying exaggeratedly and she shook her head at him and walked out into the living room with the three guys shuffling behind her.

She turned around to see them all looking at her expectantly and she blushed a little under all the male attention, wondering briefly why it never felt like that with Logan, Colin and Finn. Maybe because she was taken then. Maybe because none of them ever looked at her like Jess was looking at her now. Unsettling.

"Okay, well, this is kind of awkward," she started. "You should know that I'm extremely grateful for being able to stay here. And you're being really sweet to me," she said, looking at Matt and Chris but not quite able to meet Jess's eyes, "and I want to pay you back. Just wanted to know how-"

"Stay forever," Matthew deadpanned.

Rory laughed easily. "What about the _Breakfast At Tiffany's_ girl?"

His face reddened and he muttered something that sounded vaguely like "not for _me_" but he got ignored.

Chris, on his part, looked confusedly between Jess and Rory. "I thought this was a family favour."

"It was," Jess nodded, giving Rory a pointed look and a wry smile. "She's just-"

"Unless," Chris cut in jokingly, "you want to help out with the inventory next week."

"We're doing inventory again?" Matt whined.

"I could do that!" Rory answered without hesitation.

"Jess, what do you say?"

"That's actually not such a bad idea," he shrugged.

At that moment, the telephone interrupted the conversation, and Jess offered to get it.

* * *

When he joined the other three again, his face showed mild annoyance.

"Hey, Rory, can I ask you a question?"

"Uh... sure."

"What did you tell your mother about me?"

"What?" she almost screeched.

"That was Luke on the phone. He asked me, not so gently, to lay off you, because apparently your mother told him that you told her that I'm being a jerk to you."

"I... I did not say that!" She flushed instantly. "I... may have mentioned that we're not exactly getting along too well, but I _swear_, I did not say _that_. Mom has a tendency to over-dramatise what she hears."

"Right."

"I swear!"

"I heard you," he said lightly. "Good to know that it's something that runs in the family; you didn't get it from nowhere," he smirked, turning his face to the TV.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she exclaimed, not exactly knowing why she was so offended.

"Shh," he told her condescendingly. "Just watch Wile E. Coyote fall, Rory."

She did, and fantasised about adopting Road Runner's many tricks for them to work on one Jess Mariano.


	6. Temporary Ceasefire

Disclaimer: The Truncheon boys own me but I don't own a thing.

* * *

Thursday at the paper was Rory's best day yet. She got to edit a big article on the upcoming elections to the City Council, and arrived at the apartment with a content smile on her face, thinking of dinner.

The smile didn't disappear even when she stepped into the kitchen and found Jess sitting at the table, reading a book and eating a carrot.

"Hi."

"Hey."

But then it happened. Her face fell as she opened the fridge and saw... nothing. She moved some random items around, but her burrito was nowhere to be found.

"Have you seen my burrito?"

Silence.

When she turned around to face Jess, his jaw was hanging open in a half surprised, half guilty expression, but he quickly snapped it shut, taking another bite of his carrot. Then he flinched in anticipation of what he instinctively knew was coming.

"Jess!" Rory cried.

"I'm sorry, okay? I thought it was Matthew's!" he whined with a chuckle. "Want a carrot?"

"No, I don't want a stupid carrot! I want my burrito! My beautiful, beautiful burrito. I specifically went out last night to get that burrito!"

"Okay, you need to stop saying 'burrito'."

"Burrito, burrito, burrito! You ate my burrito, you don't get to tell me what I can say or not!" She mock-sniffled. "I day-dreamed about that burrito all day in the office," she pouted.

"Jeez, you need to get some," Jess mumbled under his breath.

"Food! I hope you mean food," Rory said pointedly.

"Yes, food. The other thing, too."

"Oh, fff..."

"Yes?" he asked, smiling at her with his eyebrows raised.

"I won't even bother to comment, Jess."

"Why are you so uptight, huh?"

"I'm not uptight!"

"That's what every uptight person says."

"I'm hungry, that's why. And you annoy me. I'm not a naturally uptight person."

"Sure," he replied offhandedly, snapped his book close and left the kitchen, not letting her answer.

Glaring after him, Rory heard him talk to Chris in the living room.

He was asking if Chris had seen his copy of _A Farewell To Arms_.

She fidgeted with her sleeves for a moment, before grabbing her purse and decidedly walking out of the apartment to get something to eat.

* * *

Since a few pages of the book got crumpled when she fell asleep on it, Rory's next step was to put it under a pile of the heaviest volumes she had in her suitcase. Now that it was her last night before she was moving to her own place though, and Jess clearly noticed that the book was missing, she needed to find some stealthy way to return it.

So she worked all evening long, forcing her eyes to remain open, then she made a phone call to Lane, purposefully directing the conversation to Dave and the band, rather than her own stay in Philadelphia; she read a little, irritated at the time for being such a slow flyer, and when it was almost 2 a.m. she decided it was time to carry on with her mission.

Just like two nights before, she switched on the light in the living room, approached the door to Jess's room and knocked very quietly, prepared that he would be awake, tell her to come in and she would have to ask about where they kept the washing up liquid or something ridiculous like that.

There was no response though, and she opened the door slowly, gripping the unfortunate object of her mission tightly to her chest. It took her eyes a few seconds to get used to the darkness in the bedroom; but when they did, Rory saw that the bed was empty. She frowned but made a few steps inside.

And simultaneously, she heard a rather calm yet surprised, "Whoa," spoken from behind her. She closed her eyes, willing for the earth to swallow her, but when that didn't happen, she turned around to face him. Jess. He was wearing a T-shirt and boxer shorts, his hair was all messy from sleep and he was squinting at the light.

Since Rory didn't really know how to defend herself in this situation, she assumed the offensive. "Were you never taught that sneaking up on people like that is wrong?"

"Were you never taught that breaking into people's rooms is wrong?" he countered smoothly. "Is that my Hemingway?"

"Maybe," she tried evasiveness, averting his eyes as her face grew hotter and redder with every second.

"How did you get it?" he asked incredulously.

She dared to look at his face and what she saw surprised her. He wasn't angry. Not in the least. He was just very, very amused. And Rory couldn't decide whether she was more relieved or frustrated.

"I... here, I'm returning it. It doesn't matter," she nervously extended her hand, giving him the book.

"Oh, I beg to differ with you on that. If you broke into my room before, I think I'd rather know."

"I did, okay? I did," Rory replied in something that was a mixture of a whisper and a whine.

"When?" Jess questioned.

"... Two nights ago."

"When I was asleep?"

"Yes."

"Huh."

There was a moment of silence, in which Rory thought she was going to explode from the humiliation. Finally, not able to take it for a second more, with a "Well, goodnight," she took a step to her right and dived to her room, quickly closing the door behind and throwing herself onto the bed.

"Rory, come on, you're not a sixteen year old, open the door. I'm not going to eat you alive or anything." She didn't move a muscle but Jess opened the door and peeked in anyway. "You know that the guys keep their book collections in the living room, right?"

"I wanted the notes," she mumbled and sat up, forcing herself not to look like a moody little girl. Though, after this, she was pretty sure Jess would never see her as a grown woman again. "It was the book hunger talking, I can't really control it."

"Book hunger?"

"Yeah. I get that sometimes. It's this thing when nothing can get between me and a book, you know? I'm oblivious to everything. Dean, my first boyfriend, he used to tease the heck out of me because of that."

Jess remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Come on, I'll show you something."

"What?"

"You'll see."

Hesitantly, she got up and followed him towards the door of the apartment.

"Okay," she stopped him. "Wherever you want to take me, can you _please_ put some pants on?"

He looked down, realising what he was wearing. "If you insist," he smirked.

A moment later, he walked out of his bedroom, already in jeans. Rory in the meantime, grabbed her old Yale jumper and pulled it onto her pyjama top.

Jess led her down the stairs, stopped on the landing, opened a door and switched on a dim light, revealing Truncheon's book store.

"Wow," Rory couldn't stop herself from gasping, looking around a room that could just as well be a private library of a book fanatic rather than a book shop. It was cosy. The bookstands reached from floor to ceiling, and it was pretty much as close to heaven as she ever got. "You know that I haven't been in here yet? I'm always at work when it's open."

He shrugged. "Feel free to browse now. Maybe you won't need to break into my room in the future," he added as an afterthought, bringing a blush back to Rory's cheeks. "Not that I'm complaining," he chuckled.

"Shut up," Rory murmured, already walking along the rows and rows of books, lovingly running her hand along their spines.

There was this feeling in her stomach – not quite butterflies, but something close. She was in an empty book store, in the dead of night, and she could almost hear the whispers of all the characters hidden on those shelves, revealing themselves to her. On a decidedly less spiritual and intellectual level – she was in a book store, in her pyjamas, in the dead of night, alone with a pretty boy, and her mind kept supplying her with certain images from _Atonement_.

It was stupid and wrong, she knew it, but exciting nonetheless. She hadn't felt like that in... a really long time? Ever? She couldn't quite wrap her head around it at the moment, so she picked up a biography of Charles Dickens that caught her eye and sat down on the carpet.

That was how Jess found her ten minutes later – curled up on the floor, with her back against the 'Biography' section, skimming through a thick volume. He slid to the floor opposite her with a book of his own, but he didn't open it.

"So, how did you like _A Farewell To Arms_?"

"I... Hemingway is a cure for insomnia," Rory answered smoothly, ignoring the little voice in her head that reminded her that Hemingway and Mariano made for a collaboration that kept her awake until early hours of the morning.

"Okay, let's change the subject. It's too late for arguing," Jess said with a yawn.

She looked down at the book and read a paragraph before her eyes snapped back to him.

"How long have you lived in Philly?" she asked.

"Going on four years."

"Why would you move from New York City to Philadelphia?" she frowned.

"Long story."

"_Reader's Digest_ version, then."

His eyes moved from her face to a random spot somewhere on the wall. "After high school... I went travelling around the country-"

"Your mom mentioned something about that," she cut in. "Sorry. Continue," she lowered her eyes, but he didn't, not for a few seconds.

"Oh. You know Lizzie. I forgot," he finally said, seemingly deflated.

"Yeah. Stars Hollow is a small town," she answered, equally quietly.

"So does she go around telling stories about me? Did she ever mention why I left home? Or that she waited for me to get out of the fucking house to finally get sober?" he asked, his jaw set.

Rory bored her eyes into the floor, not sure how to react to the air of fake calm emanating from him. "No. She didn't." He didn't say anything for a moment, and she decided to try and divert his attention. "I interrupted you. You were saying that you went travelling around the country," she trailed off.

"Right. I did. Only to realise that I couldn't live anywhere but on the East Coast, so I started on my way back to New York but those two doofuses gave me a job and made me stay here."

"Aw. That's kind of sweet."

"That's is just about the last word I'd use," he grimaced.

"I know, that's why I said it," she grinned.

Jess shook his head. "How cruel of you. And it was blackmail, actually. Either I stayed and let them publish my book or they would burn it, follow me to New York and live on my account to punish me for not letting them make money off me. It was a loose loose kind of situation."

This was the first time he made her laugh, sincerely and without restraint, and he gave her a smirk that was almost a smile. When she saw it though, she checked herself; her laughter changed into a smile only to quickly disappear from her face.

"I should... I have to get up in four hours," she said nervously.

Jess nodded in response. She didn't move.

"Typical, huh?" he chuckled bitterly. "You're moving out tomorrow and that's when we start talking."

"We've talked quite a bit."

"Nope," he smirked. "All our interactions until now consisted of _me_ attempting to talk to _you_ and you trying to bite my head off."

"It's entertaining," she smiled and shrugged, rising to her feet.

"Oh, I know," he smirked back.

"Goodnight. Thanks for showing me this," she said, looking around one last time. Jess gave her a single nod, and she started walking away.

"Goodnight, _cousin_," his voice reached her when she was in the doorframe of the book store.

"Jerk!" she replied instantly, but kept on walking.

"Book thief!"

"Other people's burrito eater!"

"Okay, since both events were caused by hunger, I think we're even!"

She smiled in the darkness before yelling "Night, Jess!". And then she raced up the stairs, flushed, and – for no definite reason – very relieved that she was about to be moving out of the guys' apartment very soon.


	7. Undeniably Something

A/N: This chapter got too long and I had to split it in two, so the next part should be coming in the next few days. And it will have more substance to it, I promise. Hope you like it and please review!

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own them, but they do as I say anyway. It's pretty awesome, really.

* * *

By Friday afternoon Rory was shattered, and the thought of moving to her own place was the only thing that kept her going.

As soon as she got to the apartment above Truncheon, she dumped all of her stuff into her suitcase and two additional bags, not bothering to fold, sort, or do anything to keep her things tidy. By 7 p.m. she managed to drag all her things into the living room, where Matt and Chris were playing some noisy video game.

"Guys," she panted, putting her suitcase by the door. "Time for me to say goodbye," she smiled.

They dropped their consoles immediately and Matthew was the first one to approach and give her a friendly hug.

"I'm gonna give you a lift," Chris offered, motioning to the window to show that it was raining again.

"Are you sure? I can really take the bus."

"It's no problem. I have to go to the supermarket. And Matt was winning, anyway."

Rory laughed. "Okay, thanks. Is Jess in his room?" she asked, her eyes darting to the door.

"He's out having drinks with a potential client. Trying to get us some new business."

"You let him do that with his people skills?" she frowned.

"The potential client is a girl," Matt explained.

An 'oh' almost got out from her mouth but she checked herself and asked, "So?"

The two guys raised their eyebrows at her, creating a rather comical image.

"Okay, you don't have to pretend to make us feel better. We know Jess is pretty. Even my mom called him a 'very handsome young man' once, and she only ever calls _me_ that," Matt said. "And my twelve year old niece has a crush on him."

Rory attempted a careless shrug and proceeded to change the subject. "Well, tell him I said bye... I hope I didn't leave anything behind. And if I have, then you have my cell phone number. And I'll be back next week for the inventory anyway."

"We'll keep in touch," Matthew nodded.

"Great. Okay."

She grabbed her laptop bag and some other stuff while Chris took care of the suitcase.

On the way down, she nervously glanced at the door of the book store, giving it one more slightly nostalgic look before walking out of the building.

* * *

In the car, Chris put on the radio which was playing some contemporary R&B tune and Rory's face involuntarily contorted in a pained grimace.

"Could we... uh... change the station?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure," the young man answered and did as she asked. "Gee, at least you're better about it than Jess is."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her lips twitching in a smile.

"He doesn't ask, just switches it off if he hears anything he doesn't like. And he doesn't like pretty much anything on the radio."

For some reason, as of yet unacknowledged by Rory Gilmore, a wave of heat surged towards her face and she quickly changed the subject.

"So, Chris, I've been meaning to ask. Tell me a bit about how Truncheon works."

Five minutes later she was cursing herself for bringing up yet another subject that involved Jess Mariano. Extensively.

* * *

The next morning, she was woken up by the ring of her cell phone. She blindly reached for it and grunted sleepily into the receiver.

"Good morning to you too, Rory."

"Huh? Jess?" she mumbled, rolling over to lie on her back.

"You recognise my voice while half-asleep, I'm touched," came a reply, and she groaned again, throwing an arm across her face to shelter her eyes from sunshine. "I actually contemplated introducing myself as the editor-in-chief of The Inquirer but then I figured you'd never speak to me again," he declared flatly.

"I promised myself that I'd never speak to you again quite a few times already, so far it's not working so I'd say you're safe for now. But I _would_ be very mad if you did that. What time is it anyway?" she asked, sitting up in her bed and squinting.

"11 o'clock. I didn't think, with your organisational obsession, that you would allow yourself to be this lazy, you know."

"I tend to sleep in on the weekends. And I have no organisational obsession, thank you very much."

"Sure."

"You know what, I need breakfast and about a gallon of coffee before I can argue with you, so if you'd be so kind to call again in about an hour," she bit back. "Wait, why are you calling me, anyway?"

"Well, Rory, since you're asking," Jess drawled sarcastically. "I think you left your copy of _The Fountainhead_ in the apartment."

"Oh. I don't think so. I mean, I did bring a copy with me, but I never took it out of my suitcase. Actually, not true. I might have, but I didn't read it, so it shouldn't have left the room. I'm sure I have it."

"Okay." A moment of rather tense silence followed, before Jess said, with what seemed like forced ease, "So, you unpacked yet?"

"No, not really. Just went straight to bed last night, I'm gonna unpack today."

"Cool."

"Yeah."

"See you around then, Rory."

"Yeah," she frowned. "Bye."

* * *

She spent the rest of Saturday settling in her new apartment, with music blasting in the foreground, because while at first she enjoyed the silence, after a few hours it became rather daunting.

She got to the bottom of her suitcase right when Morrissey was singing "_I like You_".

That didn't really register though, because the only thing that was on her mind right then was the fact that her copy of _The Fountainhead_ was most certainly not there.

She paused for a moment, trying to put it all together.

She might have taken the book out of her suitcase when she was tidying up her things, on her third day in Philadelphia. After that night when the ceiling leaked and she and Jess first talked about literature. Rand was mentioned. So if the book was found in the apartment, Jess must have taken it... when he leak-proofed the ceiling? Before her own book-stealing?

Rory's eyes widened and she bit back a smile. She reached for her phone, scrolled down her contacts, then checked herself, sat up straight and put the phone away.

She'd get the book back sooner or later. It wasn't like she didn't know where he lived.

* * *

"Surprise."

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked, her eyes curiously scanning the faces of three young men standing at her door.

Matthew was the first one to speak up. "I've had a really bad non-date, Jess has a killer case of writer's block and Chris is just bored. We thought we'd come see your place and celebrate you moving out," he explained motioning to two four-packs of beer in his and Chris's hands. "Not that we're glad about you moving out, it's just that-"

"That we're happy for you. That you have your own place now."

"And that you can sleep without being interrupted by our snoring."

"Exactly."

"Well, come on in," she smiled, slightly unnerved by the way Chris and Matt babbled while Jess just stood there in silence and unashamedly stared at her.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, thanks. Nice place you've got here."

"Small, but pretty cool."

"Yeah, cosy. I like the lamp."

"Hey, look, did you know that _The X-Files_ reruns are on?"

"No! Which season?"

"Looks like... 2."

"Cool!"

Rory shook her head at Matthew and Chris, smiling, before turning around to Jess who was still standing by the door.

"You didn't say goodbye on Friday," he said quietly, leaning closer to her.

"You were out. With a potential client," she replied in such an aloof manner she made herself proud.

"You could have left a note."

"I was too busy to think about that. Why do you care, anyway?"

"I don't," Jess said nonchalantly, though his eyes claimed something completely different while he kept looking at her from a proximity that was all too close and intense. Rory's cheeks flushed deep pink and she turned away, breaking the eye contact. Jess let out a small sigh, but it didn't escape her attention.

"So, did you solve the mystery of the poor stray _Fountainhead_ lying around the place?" she asked pointedly. Jess didn't answer. "You had the cheek to tell me off for stealing your book even though you did it first!" she exclaimed, exaggeratingly scandalised.

He gave her a shrug, a smug smile, and then he ever so casually revealed the said volume from behind his back.

"And you vandalised it, too!"

"Last time I checked, you were crazy about my margin notes," Jess chuckled.

"Not... crazy. I just liked them. And only in _your_ books. Mine are all pretty and clean and impeccable."

"Hey, at least this one's got some personality now," he said, allowing himself to step further into the apartment.

Rory glared at him, then looked back at the book. "You read and annotated Rand? You hate Rand."

"Had a momentum," Jess explained. "For the most part I wrote about how much she sucks, anyway."

She gave him a dirty look. "You will pay," she said. Then, not letting him comment, she looked at Matthew and Chris, standing in front of the TV. "Seems like we lost them to Agent Scully," she muttered. "Guys, you can sit down, you know," she told them. "And I think I'll have that beer now."

* * *

After a while of mindlessly watching the TV, Jess bleakly looked at the empty bottle next to him. Then he got up and looked around the apartment. "You know what, I'm just gonna step out and get something more to drink."

The others looked up at him. "Well, if we're going to drink more we need something to eat," Rory reasoned. "Guys, how does pizza sound?" She received an appreciative murmur in return. "Great," she rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go to the store," she said to Jess, then grabbed her purse and slipped on her shoes.

As the door closed behind the pair, the two young men in front of the TV smirked, rolled their eyes and switched the channel.


	8. Various Stages Of Sobriety

A/N: I know that getting them drunk is cliché, but I really couldn't resist. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And this chapter is dedicated to Betsy86 without whom it certainly wouldn't be the same ;) You rock!

Disclaimer: Don't. Own. Gilmore. Girls.

* * *

In the market across the street, Rory set out to find food and Jess set out to find drinks; they met at the till where Jess was asking for a bottle of whiskey.

"So what, you are planning to look for inspiration in the bottle? Very original, really," she said, putting down the basket with the frozen pizzas and a ton of sweets.

_"'A man could write much better after eating a porterhouse steak and drinking a pint of whiskey then he could ever write after eating a nickel candy bar'," _Jess replied with a quotation, smirking, but looking at the coins he was counting instead of Rory. His nonchalant tone angered her; it was as if he thought she wouldn't know what he was talking about.

She smiled smugly herself and deadpanned, "Yes, no role model like Henry Chinaski." Jess looked up in amazement. "You intend to end up like him?" Rory continued sarcastically.

"Bukowski knew what he was talking about most of the time."

"Some of the time. And I'm not denying that he was good with words. It's his life he couldn't put together. Drinking, drinking, women, some writing and more drinking. Pathetic. All that wisdom in his writing but in reality? It was as if he was deliberately avoiding anything meaningful happening to him."

"Are we talking about Bukowski or Chinaski here?" Jess asked, leaving the store alongside with Rory.

"Strictly Chinaski, Bukowski probably wasn't all that different though."

"Okay, so what 'meaningful' could happen to him, according to you?" he inquired simply, with a note of cynicism that made Rory stop and gape at him for a moment.

"Tons of stuff! That hippy girlfriend of his had a baby and they found it only natural to separate? Who does that? Or every time he claimed to be in love, it demonstrated itself with quiet afternoons of drinking together. That's not love, that's alcoholism incidentally shared by two people."

She shut her mouth, very pleased with her argument, especially when she heard him snicker.

"I'd ask what love is according to you, but I haven't had enough to drink yet to deal with any sentimental crap."

"Good, I wouldn't tell you anyway."

"... Because it's a conspiracy theory," Jess stated, smirking.

"Could you be any more cynical?"

"You want me to try?"

"Don't waste your energy. And it's not a conspiracy theory, believe me."

"Yes, thank you for sounding so condescending, Miss Gilmore."

"I... I didn't mean it like that. It's just that... I don't know what your story is and why exactly you are such a cynic, but I'm just saying that from my own personal experiences, I know love is not just a conspiracy theory," Rory said, then her voice turned less serious. "Take it from a girl who received two marriage proposals by the age of 23 and kind of knows what she's talking about."

"You got proposed to twice?"

"Yes."

Jess whistled.

"Both came too early. I mean, I couldn't possibly marry Logan last year. The timing seemed to be the issue then, but now I can see a whole lot of reasons why it wouldn't have worked... And Dean, my first serious boyfriend, he proposed too, but that was just pure crazy," she added as an afterthought.

"So at 23 you already rejected two proposals? No role model like Lizzie Bennet, huh?" It was Rory's turn to look at Jess in amazement and apparently he picked up on that. "What? Everybody's read _Pride and Prejudice_."

"But I've never heard a guy reference it in a conversation," she answered amusedly, then proceeded to break out in a fit of giggles.

"Now what?"

"I've just... had this crazy visual of Henry Chinaski and Elizabeth Bennet walking down the street together."

"That _is_ pretty funny."

"They'd drive each other mad."

"Yeah... Probably."

* * *

Rory pretended not to notice that Jess just stole another glance at her legs, as she continued to tell the boys about various events in her home town. They were laughing and gaping at her, as if she were a newcomer from the space. And anyway, the stories of Stars Hollow's insanity were indeed even more fascinating whilst drunk. They proved inspiring too; straight away they started bouncing off ideas about refurnishing the bookstore to make it into a Book Maze, or have a 24 hour Reading Marathon, where the person who lasted till the end would win, but the number of pages read would also count, and arguable, there had to be a detailed test to test a participant's knowledge of the text. There was a lot of verbal sparring, Matt got enthusiastic, Jess rejected every proposal straight away, Chris took notes, and Rory just felt pretty because Jess kept glancing at her legs.

It was a blast.

"Another round, people?" Chris proposed.

"Sure."

"Oh my, Chris, that's too much!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you don't have shot glasses and we're drinking whiskey from... well, normal glasses," he laughed, but Rory blushed anyway. Or more accurately, she would have blushed if the redness of her face wasn't becoming a permanent state.

"I only moved in here two days ago!"

"Relax, I'm only kidding. Shot glasses are overrated."

"Good. Jess, pass the red vines."

"Only if you ask nicely, Gilmore."

"Fine, I'll get them myself, _Mariano_" she said, getting up and walking over to his side of the couch.

"Yes, that will spare you the humiliation of saying 'please'," Jess replied and hid the pack of sweets behind his back.

Rory stood above him, glaring. "Hand them over."

"Gee, don't kill me with this scowl of yours."

"Try and stop me."

After a few seconds of glowering on her part and semi-smirking on his, Rory's hazy mind sent a very clear message that she was in truly desperate need of something red, sweet and chewy.

Quite possibly her subconscious had a say in that too, telling her to take advantage of the general drunkenness and ever so subtly throw herself at a certain writer-boy who was quickly and surely becoming a focus of her many, many thoughts, angry, frustrated and otherwise.

In any case, her limbs picked up on her brain's signals, and she ended up leaning over Jess, trying to reach the sweets behind his back and fumbling with him in struggle for them, which eventually resulted in giggles and falling into the lap of unsuspecting Chris who was sitting next to Jess.

"Gee, kids, you and your sexual tension," he shook his head in annoyance, scooting over to make space for Rory, while the two suspects turned to him to give him comically similar looks of mock confusion and innocence.

They all had another shot to dissolve the tension.

* * *

Matthew awoke from his alcohol-induced passed out state because of two all too loud voices.

He wearily opened his eyes and flipped the pillow under his head to get the cool side. "What the actual fuck are you two arguing about _again_?" he mumbled.

"He's saying stupid, ignorant things about Morrissey," Rory explained, pointing at Jess.

"Screw you, man. Morrissey's a genius"

"Thanks, Matt!" Rory exclaimed.

"Whatever," Jess sneered. "Drink some more, maybe then you'll see some sense."

"Yes, because that's what drinks usually do to people," Chris soberly slurred from his spot in the corner.

Rory, however, downed another shot. "I... think I'm drunk," she declared thoughtfully after a moment. "You," she waved her hand at the boys, "you are such a bad influence. I haven't drunk like that since I finished college. In college I actually used to drink quite a lot, seeing as I was with Lo... argh!"

"What?" her three guests looked at her with confusion.

"Logan. My ex. He called me a few days ago, after a year, you know?" she started, her tone becoming more angered by the second. "And he left a message! _How are you, Rory, We should catch up, Rory, We were always such good friends, Rory, blah blah blah blah blah!_ And then he chickened out and I'm going to call him and tell him what I think about that!" she exclaimed, shakily getting to her feet, looking around for her cell phone.

In that moment, however, Chris and Jess simultaneously leaped up, latching on to various parts of her clothing and yelling a "No!"

Matt leaped up too, but only to run to the bathroom.

"I..." Rory frowned. "I need some fresh air," she said, taking a step towards the balcony. The boys let go of her, but Chris continued to be stern.

"Fine. Without the phone, though. Drunk dialling is _bad_ for you, got it?"

Rory nodded meekly and went to the balcony door.

The two looked after her. "I'll make some coffee," Chris said. "Make sure she doesn't fall over the barrier. And try to... avoid doing that yourself, preferably."

Jess nodded and then followed her, stumbling slightly. He found her sitting on the cold floor, looking at something in the distance. She didn't react at first when he leaned against a wall and lit a cigarette.

"What's just happened in there, Rory?" he asked after a moment.

"Did you have to come here with that?" she questioned in turn, waving her arm to get rid of smoke in front of her face.

"Answer the question. When we talked earlier tonight you seemed to be over the guy."

"I am."

"So?"

"So?" she repeated. "He gets to me, still. I loved him and it ended in a really stupid way. That kind of pain doesn't go away quickly," she sighed in a way that to any sober person would seem very exaggerated, still not looking at Jess.

"You expect this... thing... to stick with you forever then?"

"I don't know... is it?"

"What?"

"Going to stick."

"How the hell would I know?"

"Dunno."

"Jeez, you're dragging me into your drunken world."

"As if you weren't inebriated yourself."

"Good point," he admitted. "... Who uses the word 'inebriated' when they're smashed?"

Rory proudly raised her chin. "Me, apparently," she said, then caught the railing and attempted to get up. She landed on her behind.

Jess chuckled and extended his hand to her. "Labyrinth... relinquishing... its powers?"

Rory laughed as she took his hand and pulled herself to an upright position. Then, however, she stumbled, her hands landed on his chest and her head spun from the sudden movement and even more sudden, very close proximity to him.

Eyes.

Lips.

Matt's slurring voice coming from the doorframe. "Hey, let's start a conga!"

And then there was even more head-spinning as they jumped away from each other and Jess pushed Matt inside, muttering invectives under his breath.

Rory frowned and followed them inside, not quite sure what's just happened.

She somehow landed on her bed and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

Jess drank down another shot.


	9. Spats And Bribery

A/N: Three updates in one week! I don't think that's ever happened before. It's because of your reviews! Anyway, I hope you like Matt, because there will be quite a lot of him here. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. But I do know what's going to happen next!

* * *

Rory's alarm was set up on repeat, to ring every weekday at 6.45, and then every five minutes after that until she properly woke up. This particular Monday morning, however, her desire to get up was significantly lower than on any other Monday morning, which practically meant it was inexistent. So when at 7.00 the alarm rang for the fourth time, she managed to reach out and throw her cell phone as far as she could.

A rich string of cuss words that followed made her eyes snap open, and she sat up and squinted at the insufferable sunlight and the general chaos that the room was.

Matt, sprawled horizontally over the foot of her bed. Chris snoring in the armchair. And Jess, on the couch, rubbing his temple with one hand and holding her cell phone in the other. She groaned.

"Why are you trying to kill me in my sleep?" he mumbled.

"Instinct," she replied. "What time is it?"

He looked at her phone. "Just past seven."

For a few seconds she pondered on the information. "Oh _crap_."

Emergency mode kicked in, Rory jumped out of bed, stumbling over Matthew who only rolled over to the other side, then she gathered some clothes and disappeared in the bathroom. She moaned upon seeing her own reflection in the mirror, then completed her morning routine in record time. Not even ten minutes later she was nudging Jess, who somehow managed to fall asleep again despite her frantic running around the room in search of various items she had to take with her to work.

"Jess. Jess, wake up or I swear I will splash you with a lot of cold water." He opened his eyes and glared at her. "Matt's not waking up, and I'm not even trying Chris," she motioned to the snoring figure. "I have to go to work, like, now, so you get them up and out of here. You three have a business of your own to open if I remember correctly. I'm leaving the key on the kitchen counter, take it with you and I'll come by after work and get it. Understood?"

"Um-hmm."

"A little more convincing, please."

"Get out, take the key, got it."

"Good. I'm going."

She made it to the door. "Rory?" She turned to face him. "You might want to button up your shirt before you leave."

Blushing profusely, she did up the button that must have got undone when she was putting on her shoes, then she left, slamming the door and effectively waking up Chris and Matt.

* * *

In the afternoon Rory barged into the apartment above Truncheon decidedly, an angry expression on her face. She knocked on the door of Jess's room but didn't wait for an invitation, she just swung it open and entered.

He was lying on his back with a book in front of his face, and when Rory came in, he graced her with a single look of surprise, one that only fuelled her fury.

"Keys," she demanded sternly.

He motioned to his desk without a word.

"Now can you get up, so I can hit you?" Rory glowered, still standing above him.

When he did, Rory grabbed his book from his hands and used it to hit him upside the head.

Jess grimaced, then moved away. "Okay, care to explain?"

"Do you remember writing last night?" she asked icily.

"Uh-"

"You wrote something that's supposed to be chapter 6 on my arm, you asshole! With a pseudo love scene!" she exclaimed. "In some pen that I had to scrub my arm for half an hour to wash off! And I didn't realise it in the morning and I went to work in this shirt," she motioned at her short sleeves, "and I had to explain to my boss why I have writing on my arm, and why whatever her name was is telling some Dominic that she cannot love him while he's pushing against her. God, Jess, do you have any idea how embarrassing it was for me?"

Jess's face for a split second showed genuine guilt, then amusement, but by the time he spoke it was just fear. "You washed it off." It was more a statement than a question, spoken with such cold terror that she was immediately taken aback. "Rory... fucking hell, do you remember that when we came over to yours Matt told you I had a killer case of writer's block? Well, yeah. And I told you I could write better with whiskey. Now, I've been sitting all day today, racking my brain, knowing that I came up with something last night but not being able to remember what it was for the life of me. And you..." he breathed deeply, running a hand through his hair, "... you just washed it off."

"Relax, you idiot, would you?" she said, still harshly. "Half the newsroom came to read it, I have a picture of it; you can read every word of your stupid drunken gibberish."

Jess glared.

She glared back.

Then she turned on her heel, muttering, "I'll email it to you," before leaving his room.

* * *

She was inhaling deeply, leaning against Jess's door when Matt and Chris appeared in front of her.

"He wrote something for chapter 6?"

"Yes."

The two boys high-fived, grinning.

"Hi Rory."

"Yes, hello. How was your day?"

"Ten different kinds of awful. Why did it never occur to us last night that we have to work today?"

"Uh, because we were drunk?" Matt offered.

"Before that."

"It did occur, we just didn't know we'd get _that_ drunk. Thanks for letting us stay the night, by the way."

"Well, I didn't exactly have the strength to do otherwise," she said, then cracked a smile for the first time during the day.

"Good point."

"Want some coffee?" Chris chimed in. "I'm just making a fresh pot... and also I drank your milk in the morning."

"Don't worry about it. And yes, a cup would be wonderful. Then I'm gonna go home and sleep for the next twelve hours."

"That sounds awesome," Chris said, putting mugs on the table. "I'd do that too, but unfortunately Matthew here offended one of his poets this morning and now I have to take care of that."

"Hangover! He was reciting to me over the phone, in this really inspired voice and I couldn't take it!"

"Right," Chris mumbled, taking a sip. "You'll still pay for it. See you, Rory."

"Bye, Chris. Thanks," she raised her cup. Then he left, and she was left in the kitchen with Matthew, who was alternately staring at her and at the table.

"Matt, are you okay?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"Yeah, I... yeah. Can I talk to you?"

"Sure..."

"Okay. Right. How should I start... Remember how yesterday I mentioned that I had a really bad non-date? Well, me and Holly-"

"The _Breakfast At Tiffany's_ girl?"

"Her, yes. We've been kind of... hanging out for the last couple of months. Strictly friendly territory though. And it's been going well, and I've started," he waved he arms around, blushing, "you know. Making passes. And last week we were walking by this movie theatre and there was a poster, saying that they would be screening _Aladdin_ on Sunday. So we reminisced about how it was the movie of our childhood, and in the end we decided to go. And naturally, with how things have been progressing lately, I thought it was a date. And without any notice, she turned up with her six year old neighbour."

"Aw, you poor thing!" Rory cooed, trying very hard not to laugh.

"That's not even the end of it. The little bastard behaved as if _he_ was on a date with her, holding her hand and all and... glaring at me, you know. And then he spilt his coke all over my lap, and Holly... she just kept... laughing!" Matthew finished, helpless in his outrage.

"That's awful," she said, a giggle escaping her. "Think about it though. I'm sure she didn't bring him to be mean to you or to, you know, have a human barrier between you. Maybe she brought him to see how you were with kids," Rory tried.

"Yeah... no, I don't think so. She seemed too happy about the way he was towards me. It was mean. Like she wasn't interested at all."

Rory frowned. "So what now?"

"That's the thing. She's a photographer, and this Friday there's a launch of her exhibition in a gallery downtown. I'm invited. And I have to bring someone, too."

"Matt, that's so childish though. So she brought a kid to the movie, it doesn't mean that you have to bring some girl to her exhibition."

"Not some girl. You," he corrected, growing more confident. "As a friend, Rory. Please. It's not that big a favour to ask, is it?"

"But... Matt!" Rory whined.

"Just for a bit. An hour. Actually, if we leave early she might get even more jealous. Please, Rory, please! No need to be couple-like or anything, just come with me. "

"Matt, think it over. This is such a cheap move on your part."

"I'll be your best friend! I'll even be willing to listen when you have to complain about your love life. I-"

"Matthew, stop. I don't even have a love life."

"Then you can get dressed up on Friday and feel pretty in my charming company. Or maybe you'll meet someone. There will be lots of those artsy types with... piercing eyes and... and long hair that girls always love to ruffle," he exclaimed, clearly attempting to be lyrical. "I swear, I've evaluated my situation very thoroughly and showing up on Friday with a gorgeous girl really is the best thing I can do."

"Now you're trying to win me over with compliments."

"I am. But I mean it," he added quickly. "If I wasn't interested in Holly in the first place, I'd be crushing on you so hard right now."

"You're sweet," she smiled, a light blush on her cheeks.

"Agh. I hate it when girls say that."

"Sorry."

"You're forgiven. If you'll come with me."

She sighed soundly. "I'm still not so sure about that."

Matt thought about it for a moment. "You can pick any book from the bookstore. Rand, Proust, the longest thing we have... _Or _you can even get Mariano, despite the fact that there are two copies of _The Subsect_ left in stock and we keep them under the counter."

"Is he any good?" she inquired curiously.

"Are you kidding? There's a reason why I'm friends with this guy, and it's certainly not his sunny disposition."

Rory shook her head and smirked. "I'll take the Mariano."

"And I'll pick you up on Friday at 6.30."

"Just remember that I told you this thing might not end well for you."

"I'll keep it in mind. You rock."

"I know. By the way, I need Jess's email address."

Matt grinned. "If you want to ask for an autograph you can do it personally, you know."

"He's scribbled enough in my books, thank you very much," she chuckled. "I just need to send him the picture... of my arm... with what he wrote last night."

Matt raised his eyebrows at her reached for a pen.

* * *

Back at her place, having eaten dinner and tidied up a little, Rory opened her laptop and started a new email. She attached the picture and added one single line. _"I'm sorry for the 'stupid' remark. Bad day. – Rory"_

Then her mother called, and she tried to tell her the story of the previous night whilst leaving out many details that she chose not to remember herself. It was so concise that Lorelai knew something was the matter, but fortunately she didn't comment.

When they finished talking, there was a reply in her inbox, short and concise, with a "Thanks," and an acceptance of her apology.

And that was it from Jess Mariano until Thursday night, when she finally gave up and reached for the book that had been staring at her from its spot on the desk ever since she brought it home on Monday. _The Subsect_.


	10. The J Word

A/N: Special thanks to Betsy again. And thank you to all those who reviewed! You make my day every time you do. So, you know. Continue to do so, please.

Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino, blah blah blah, and I'm not her.

* * *

"Hi," Matthew said, standing at the door of Rory's apartment promptly at 6.30 on Friday.

"Hey," she replied, smiling somewhat awkwardly. Matt returned it, then shuffled nervously but before he could think of anything to say his cell phone rang.

"Crap," he muttered, taking it out of his pocket and looking at the display. "Do you mind? It's one of my poets, I desperately need to sort this thing-"

"Sure, go ahead," Rory assured him. "I'm just putting my shoes on, then we can go."

"Awesome," Matt nodded. "Angus. Thanks for calling me back, man."

Rory smiled at him, then confusedly eyed two pairs of shoes, trying to choose between flats and heels. She performed some indecisive routine until Matthew, glancing at her from his conversation pointed to the heels. She quietly laughed, put them on, and tilted her head towards the door.

Ten minutes later they were walking towards the centre of town, Matt's phone still in his hand. "Well, you do that, Angus... Yeah, Monday 9 am... How many times do I have... Just don't overdo it. Yeah, yeah, I trust you will. Listen I have to go now... Looking forward to it. Bye.

"I am _so_ sorry," he said, turning to Rory.

"Angus?"

"Yeah. He's Scottish and all, actually, we tend to spend a lot of time arguing whether he should write in English English or American English. I say he should be natural, he says that if he does people here won't understand him. Jess usually adds that he's a poet, people are not supposed to understand him anyway. Okay, business day over now. How was your week?

"Good. Pretty quiet. Yours?"

"Crazy busy. Chris has been stuck on this one manuscript, Jess has been... I don't know. All over the place. It's all on my head."

"Sorry."

"Nah. I kinda like it. You look great, by the way."

"Thank you. You clean up rather nicely, too."

"Thanks. Chris's shirt."

She laughed. "So, what's the plan?"

"The plan?"

"For tonight. Brief me in, because I don't want to spoil, you know, the performance.

Matt grimaced, then sighed. "No performance, Rory dearest. You and I are hanging out, as friends. I plan to ignore Holly, but if she approaches us, then... Well, don't worry about it, I'll handle it. I'll improvise."

"You're sure?" Rory frowned.

"Yes. Definitely," he added, before eagerly changing the subject. "So, have you read the book?"

"The book?" she asked, pretending to be confused while really she was grateful for Matthew bringing it up, because as much as she'd been aching to talk about it to someone all day, something kept telling her that voluntarily starting a conversation about Jess could be considered eager. And she didn't want to be eager. She _was not_. Why would she be, she kept asking herself.

"_The Subsect_," Matt supplied.

"Oh, yeah. I have. Last night."

"_And_?" he drawled.

"It's good. Could be a bit longer, actually. And less influenced by Hemingway. But the imagery is very creative and still not over-the-top," Rory said, carefully choosing her words.

"You're beating around the bush."

"What?"

"Oh, come on. Thoughts on the ending please."

She hesitated for a moment while her face lit up in excitement. "I know it's part of the artistic vision, leaving things unresolved like that, but God, how frustrating _is it_? I want to know what happened to Thomas!" she exclaimed. "The hint that he went back wasn't enough," she pouted.

Matt, clearly pleased with her enthusiastic approach, smiled knowingly in response. "You loved it."

"... Yeah... Don't tell Jess," she added jokingly. "It's weird, you know. Reading something by someone you know. Not that I know him _well_, but still-"

"It's hard to believe that a jackass like him can write something like that."

Rory grinned at Matthew's words and the affection beneath them. "Exactly."

"Trust me, it was the same for me too, at first. Jess doesn't reveal himself to people easily. And if you ask me, he's surprisingly nice to you anyway."

"Okay, I wouldn't call him _nice_."

"Lack of perspective," Matt assured her. "We're here."

As they entered the gallery, already quite filled with people, Matt pointed at a table with drinks. "Look, free booze! I told you this would be cool," he said happily, picking up plastic cups with wine for both of them.

"To art," Rory proposed when he mock-clinked his cup with hers.

"Yes. And generally... successful evening."

"Hear, hear."

* * *

"Okay, Matt, there's a girl looking at us," Rory told him as he stubbornly stared at a picture. "Messy strawberry blonde hair, medium height."

"That's her."

"She's pretty."

A pained look washed over the young man's face before he made a half-turn to glance at Holly. She caught his eye in that moment and casually waved, but before he even raised his hand to wave back, the girl's attention was already on somebody else.

Matthew huffed, turning back to Rory. He looked at her with thoughtful expression.

"You can hit me over the head if I decide to go and talk to her. I won't. I still have some pride."

Rory only grimaced compassionately as she watched him sip his wine.

* * *

They were half-way through the exhibition when Matt went to get more drinks, leaving Rory in a far end of the room to stare at a particularly artistic, high resolution photograph of grey pavement with grey sky in the background. Frowning and squinting, she tried to interpret the artist's message behind it, until her very keen contemplation of art got interrupted by a familiar chuckle from behind her.

"I _cannot_ believe you got roped into coming here as Matt's fake date."

A look of surprise crossed her face before she turned on her heel to face him. He looked her up and down and her dress suddenly felt too short and the neckline too revealing. She managed to note, however, that he was dressed up, too; he wore a black blazer with his band T-shirt.

She raised her chin and drove her nails into the skin of her palm, trying to divert her blood from its route to her face. "How do you know it's fake?"

"Come on, Rory."

"Fine. He bribed me with books."

"Hope they weren't stolen from my bedroom," Jess shook his head, almost missing the way she bit her lip.

"Not quite, no." She ignored his questioning look. "How did _you_ get roped into coming here? I didn't really pin you for a visual arts kind of guy."

"And you think you've got me all figured out, huh, Gilmore?" he teased. "Holly used to display her stuff in Truncheon before she got into fancy galleries. Besides, I get paid extra for every new client I bring in."

"Cool."

"Not really... Has Matt done anything stupid yet?"

"No. He insists he can't talk to Holly but I can tell he wants to. She's not making it any easier, really. And he's so into her, poor Matt."

"Yeah, poor Matt," Jess repeated, looking at her intently.

"What about Matt? And could the two of you stop flirting so obviously?" the young man in question asked, approaching them and handing Rory a cup. "It really doesn't make me look very good."

"Does Chris know you are wearing his shirt?" Jess changed the subject easily, smirking upon seeing Rory's relieved look.

At that moment, Matthew's cell phone started ringing again.

"Talk about the devil... Hey, Chris... Guys, Chris says hi," Matt addressed Rory and Jess.

"Tell him I say hi back," Rory said, then spoke to Jess. "Where is he?"

"Upstate, visiting his grandmother. He goes every other weekend."

"Brings home cooked meals to last us all around three days," Matt added. "Hey, what's Nana cooking this time?" he spoke into the receiver. "Risotto? Jess, you hear that? ...Yeah, I just spoke to Angus, he's gonna work on the... Guys, I'm going outside, I'll be right back."

"He says you're being useless at work," Rory spoke playfully when they were left alone again. "Why is that, huh, Mariano?"

"Got other stuff on my mind," he answered with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes, and still jokingly said, "Okay, _are_ you flirting with me?"

"Maybe."

For some reason, this response wiped the smile off her face, and she said sharply though rather weakly, "Then stop."

"Why?"

"Because. I don't enjoy being messed with."

He paused for a second, his amused expression disappearing just as hers did. "You think that's what it is?"

"Isn't it?" Rory challenged, looking him straight in the eye. A long moment passed before she received a response, and it was a mere shrug.

Angrily, she turned back to glare at the photograph, and a moment later she could sense Jess walking away.

* * *

"Look how close to her she lets him stand," Matt said disdainfully, looking at Holly and one of those piercing-eyed and long-haired types. "Ugh. It makes me sick. You know what, I'm just gonna go to her and tell her-"

"Matthew, stop," Rory told him categorically, catching his elbow. "You're tipsy."

"Nonsense."

"You are. How much wine did you have?"

"... No idea."

"You know, I think we should get going."

"Oh, really?" Matt whined, then his expression turned into one of a little child, trying to be good. "But we still haven't seen some of the pictures!"

Rory sighed. "Fine."

Matthew grinned and she followed him, stopping for a second when she noticed Jess intently conversing with a blonde in the corner of the room. She rolled her eyes, then took a few steps, only to bump into Matt who was gaping at a photograph in front of him.

"Hey, uh... that... that's me, right?" he stuttered. "I mean, I'm tipsy, but I can still recognise myself in a picture. Holy crap... She didn't even ask if it's okay. What if I don't want to be hung up on a wall?"

"Oh, uh... It's only your profile. And... blurred."

"I know! What's up with that?"

"It's... artistic," Rory spoke with a frown, but by the time she said it, Matthew was already marching decidedly towards Holly.

She helplessly turned to go after him, but her eyes once again fell on Jess and the blonde, now standing too close to him to be considered innocent, her hand on his arm. Rory glared at the unaware pair, and then Jess looked up, caught her eye and sent her a smug smile. Then he said something quietly into the girl's ear.

For a moment, Rory considered throwing something at him, and at the blonde while she was at it, but ultimately she decided it wasn't worth it.

Feeling like she just got kicked in the gut, she went outside and called Lane to vent.

* * *

"Matthew, for goodness' sake. Stop drinking!" she exclaimed when she found him some time later, practically glued to the table with drinks.

"Why should I," he muttered grimly in response. "She doesn't want to date me. She said it to my face. She said I'm the sweetest guy she knows, but she just doesn't feel that way about me. So I'm done being sweet. Now I'm gonna be bitter and cynical. Like... Like Logan."

"What Logan?" Rory screeched.

"The one, you know. The one who loved Veronica. Or like Jess, even," Matt continued, unfazed. "He's sarcastic, always appears uninterested, he puts the minimum effort into romance and he still gets to leave with a girl."

"Jess left?" Rory asked sharply. Matt nodded. "Well, he's getting back here and he's taking you home," she declared sternly, opening her purse. "... I haven't got his cell phone number."

"He doesn't have one. Shit, I feel sick."

"Oh, God. Right. Let's get you outside," she said, her voice getting slightly panicked.

When they got out of the gallery, Rory dialed Truncheon's number, with no luck whatsoever. "Stupid jerk," she muttered. "If he's there with that girl when we get there, he's gonna be in _so_ much trouble," she seethed, pulling on Matt's arm.

"Ow, oww, what's going on?" he cried absently.

"I'm walking you home, since I really don't have money to spend for taxi on lousy fake-dates, and you can use some fresh air anyway. Come on, step by step. Nice," she told Matthew before she started muttering under her breath. "Smug freaking _pig_. Thinks he's so _cool_..."


	11. Talking It Out

A/U: This is going to drive me crazy if I don't move on from this chapter, so there you go. Don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

"Well, well, well, look who decided to come home," Rory spoke calmly from her spot on the couch when the doors opened and Jess entered the apartment. It was 3.30 in the morning and she could already hear the birds singing outside the window.

Jess stopped with an expression of a deer caught in the headlights. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know," she said with a tight, angry smile, then bit back viciously, "waiting for another round of wild hot love with Matthew." She shifted to sit more comfortably against the pillows to empathise the sarcasm of her words, getting even more frustrated at Jess's sardonic eyebrow raise. "He's been puking his guts out for the last three hours," she admitted sharply. "After getting totally, cruelly turned down by Holly. While you were doing what? You were putting some pathetic little self-destructive show. Well, let me tell you, if it was for me, you really shouldn't have bothered. Unless I'm wrong of course, and you've just met the love of your life last night, in which case, good for you, I'll bugger off now."

"Shit, Rory," Jess rolled his eyes, his arms drooping in frustration.

"Shit what, Jess?"

"I didn't even spend any time with her."

"I don't care," she said flatly and got up. "I'm staying in the spare room for the night, because I'm too exhausted to move, and I also don't care if you mind or not. Matt said it's okay. Now you stay up with him. Ask him if he wants some more tea," she finished, then left him standing there and disappeared into the bedroom.

She threw herself on the bed and groaned into the pillow.

* * *

She woke up relatively early and snuck out to the bathroom, careful not to wake either of the boys. Matthew – out of concern for him; Jess – out of the remnants of anger, fear of his reaction and sheer embarrassment about her outburst. Having brought herself to a state that could be deemed presentable, she went into the kitchen and contemplated making a pot of coffee but in the end settled for a glass of water. She spent some time blankly staring at Jess's door before snoring from the other room brought her back to reality.

Walking on her tiptoes, she opened the door and peeked into Matthew's bedroom. He was sound asleep, sprawled across the bed, with the covers partly on the floor. She grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and wrote him a note, telling him to call her when he woke up so they would talk about the inventory. She left it on his desk, together with a glass of water which he was sure to need.

Then she quietly slipped out of the apartment and went home.

* * *

Matt's call came around noon. She was fresh out of the shower, drinking coffee and reading the paper.

It turned out he wasn't feeling all that bad, and if she could still come today so they would get cracking on the inventory, and he could properly apologise for last night, it would be awesome.

"I'll be there around two, then."

"Great."

"Do you want me to pick up some lunch on my way?"

"No, no. We have food here. And I owe you enough as it is. I'll make us something to eat."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. See you later, Rory."

"Yeah, I'll see you soon," she replied and proceeded to get lost in research for an article, trying to ignore the sudden nervousness she felt at the thought of going back to Truncheon.

* * *

Matthew didn't waste any time before the profuse apologies began. "I am so, so sorry," he started as soon as he opened the door for her.

"Oh, don't worry about it," she smiled with all the understanding she could muster.

"That was a very lousy fake-date."

"As long as your real ones don't turn out like that."

"If only there _were_ real ones," he muttered. "So you're not mad at me?"

"No," she shook her head. "Was a little, last night, but you're forgiven because of the circumstances. And speaking of, how are _you_?"

"Ah. It's not worth talking about. In fact, I'm not even going to think about it. What I'm interested in right now is how many copies of _Lullaby_ we sold and how many _Naked Lunch_es we have left. I've never been so excited about inventory."

"I can use it, too."

"Oh yeah?"

"Definitely."

"Awesome. Let's try to figure out this mess, then," Matthew sighed.

Soon they were both busy with piles of books and various lists, each in their own corner, Patti Smith singing in the background.

Almost an hour passed in such comfortable, efficient atmosphere, Matt working in the far corner of the bookshop; Rory near the entrance.

And then the door to the shop opened and Rory heard it well, but she didn't look up. She could feel his gaze burning her back, until she was sure her face was red. She just carried on with her work, waiting to see what Jess was going to do.

"You know, you don't have to do this."

She shrugged, briefly looked up, then focused on her list. "I really don't mind."

"Being near books and all that," he said, with – what she noted with satisfaction – was clearly uneasiness.

"Yeah."

"Going alright?"

"Yeah."

Jess paused, exhaling in frustration. "Look, Rory, can we talk?"

"We are."

"Alone, preferably. And if you could drop the barking, that'd be nice too," he told her, looking her straight in the eye, then took a step back and said, louder this time. "I'm gonna make some coffee. Matt, you want some?"

"Please!" came a muffled shout from the corner, and Jess retreated up the stairs.

Rory looked after him for a few seconds, trying to work up the nerve, then said to Matthew, "I'll be right back," and marched up to the apartment.

She put on the most indifferent expression she was capable of, even though her heartbeat curiously accelerated. She almost decided to start exercising, because that _must_ have been from walking up the stairs. "I'm here, I'll do my best not to bark, what do you want?" she asked, leaning against the kitchen counter, watching as Jess put coffee into the coffee maker. His swift movements were strangely mesmerizing and she had to remind herself that staring was rude, and staring with fascination at people one was mad at was just beyond wrong.

"Why are you mad at me?" he asked, as if echoing her thoughts.

"I'm not mad at you. But you're a jerk, and I'm treating you like one," she answered sternly.

"Fine. What did I do that was so wrong?"

And here Rory got stunned into silence, because while she could think of plenty of offensive, unsettling things he did, none of them could really be deemed _wrong, _unless she would tell him how personal it was, which would mean talking about feelings that were better left unacknowledged.

Jess looked down, but she could still see a hint of smile on his lips.

"Well, you admitted before that biting my head off is entertaining, so I guess I owe you a confession, too." Rory's eyebrows rose in surprise and anticipation. "I kind of enjoy pissing you off, which, I suppose, does make me a jerk. But Rory, as your favourite whiner would say," his expression turned into one of mock-seriousness as he quoted, "_I'm not sorry for the things I've done_."

"Ugh!" she exclaimed, instantly making him grin. "You are totally impossible to talk to!"

"Why, did you expect to discuss the meaning of life?"

"I was actually hoping for the divine beauty of the firmament," she shot back. "Stop mocking my music."

"I can't help it, it's begging for it."

"I could mock the stuff you listen to, too," she said with a challenging grin.

"No you couldn't, there's nothing mockable about my music collection."

"I don't believe you."

"See for yourself," he pointed to a shelf in the corner of the living room.

Rory shot him one more smug smile before walking over to the shelf, hesitantly admitting to herself that this was fun. She started rummaging. "Why do you keep your CDs here anyway?"

"I don't know, they just landed there from the beginning. No space in my room, I guess. So? Thinking of ways in how you could mock The Ramones? Because I'm telling you, Gilmore, if you do that, you're nuts."

She grunted, not stopping browsing. They were silent for a few moments; the noises of the coffee machine filling the space. "Ha!" Rory cried eventually. "Here it is," she beamed, taking a CD out and waving it at him, returning to the kitchen. "You listen to Coldplay, mister, and don't even try telling me that it's not mockable!"

"It's Matthew's," Jess protested grimly, looking at her pointedly.

"Uh-huh. Do you hum _Fix You_ under your breath? Because that I'd pay to hear."

"Funny."

"I've so got you cornered," she said happily. "Really, what would Joe Strummer think if he knew that on Jess Mariano's shelf _London Calling_ stands next to _X&Y_?" she wondered aloud. "Maybe I should keep looking. I might find Snow Patrol. And from there, you know, a straight road to that girl from the British X-Factor. Ooh, Leona, her name was."

"You know, I've never seen you enjoying yourself so much," Jess grumbled.

"Well, now I fully comprehend how much fun it must be for you, constantly mocking and teasing me. Being you must be a blast. Except for the listening to Coldplay part," she giggled.

"They're an alternative band," he spoke weakly.

"In your dreams, my friend. You know, at least I'm not ashamed of my music taste."

"Well, you should be. Morrissey whines."

"With passion."

"How can whining be passionate?"

"Morrissey manages."

Jess shook his head. "It's all the same chord changes, in the minor key, mostly."

"It expresses feelings!"

"No, it evokes feelings."

"That too," she agreed.

"Of tediousness and despair, Rory."

"It's called melancholy, Jess," she replied, pointedly emphasising his name. "Don't tell me you never listen to melancholy."

"I do, it's called The Cure," he exclaimed, fighting a smile.

"... Or Coldplay."

"I got it when I was a kid, get over it."

"Now you're just lying because this was released only four years ago," she motioned to the CD on the kitchen counter.

"Well, and you know when it was released," Jess smirked.

"Only because my best friend was pulling out her hair in sheer terror. And let me tell you, she could recite the encyclopaedia of rock from A to Z to you, and Coldplay would not be there. Unlike Morrissey."

"Hey, stop, okay, I'm not defending Coldplay here. Just attacking The Smiths, because people attribute them with this genius that they so obviously lack."

"They obviously lack? You're obviously deaf!"

"Please. There is _nothing_ there."

"You know what, fine," Rory huffed. "The music doesn't please your very sophisticated taste. What about the lyrics? Come on, admit it. It's poetry. It gets to you."

"It really doesn't. Maybe it would if it wasn't for Morrissey's lamenting, but I doubt that too."

"He's a genius."

"No, he's not."

"Yes, he is."

"No, he's not."

"Yes, he is."

"No, he's not."

"Yes, he is."

"... And for a moment there we were having such a civilised argument," Jess remarked.

"We were, but it's impossible because you're so stubborn that discussing this with you really defeats the purpose," Rory responded grumpily.

"Yes, let's agree to disagree," he drawled mockingly. "You love the guy, even though it's completely ridiculous, and I couldn't care less, because nothing he writes has any effect on me whatsoever," he said, giving her one more challenging look. It ticked her off.

"How can it not?" Rory cried, losing control over her body and stamping her feet like a little girl. She immediately blushed in embarrassment. Jess chuckled. "I mean, that means you haven't listened properly," she continued, calming down. "There's so much depth in his lyrics. And it's not all depressing, some of it is humorous and tongue in-cheek, and the music goes with it. It works the other way round, too. When the melody is gloomy, it's not gloomy without a reason. The lyrics match. And if you gave him a chance, you'd see that he really restores his integrity in that way, same with The Smiths. Besides, he touches on so many different themes in his songs, it's not just about politics, or about the social climate, or about loneliness or love or... anything, it's just so wonderfully complex, you can find a lyric for every occasion. Like you did a moment ago," she talked on, her blush not disappearing from her cheeks for a second. "They just really have a way of getting into your life, and they become such a constant. And don't look at me like that, there's so many people who know what they're talking about and they love Morrissey and Smiths too, because there's something _so_, so special about them, about the lyrics and how they capture feelings and put them forward so simply and yet pass-"

And then suddenly she found that she couldn't talk any more because something was literally preventing her from forming comprehensible sounds. Her head spun violently, and by the time it hit her with full force that Jess's lips were on hers she didn't get to respond because he was already pulling back, with a sullen expression and a sigh escaping him.

"I, uh... what was that?" Rory asked dumbly.

"A mistake, apparently," he answered irritably, taking a step back and looking away. "Look, I get the message now. None of your treatment of me is an act, I'll piss off, I promise."

He took another step back, and at once, it appeared to Rory that something was slipping away, and even though she managed to fool herself for some time now, actually, she didn't want this chance to pass her by. Shaking her head, trying to catch his eye, she whispered "Jess," and then she lounged forward, cupping his face in both hands and re-attaching her lips to his. It didn't take him long to react; first his hands found the small of her back, then he took a few steps forward, so that soon she was pushed against the counter, his arms on both of her sides, securely holding her in place. Not that she had any thoughts of escaping; in fact, all thoughts escaped_ her _for once.

It was fierce, it was full of want, and it seemed to instantly awaken a gazillion of butterflies in her stomach. A soft moan escaped her at the feeling, and Jess attacked her lips with even more fervour, bringing one hand to her hair, tilting her head and resting the other on her back. Her own body responded straight away, she pushed even closer against him and her hand plunged into his thick hair, pulling on it softly when he bit on her lower lip. She responded by running her tongue against his mouth, and only after a long moment she started returning to reality, suddenly self-conscious about being so passionate.

"Rory," Jess uttered hoarsely, making her knees threaten to give in. His right hand travelled to her hip, his nose brushed against hers. "You know I'm not me-"

"Guys, seriously," came Matthew's voice from the hallway. "What's taking you so long?"

When the door to the apartment slammed open, Jess was standing with his back against the counter leaning back on his hands, his eyes fixed on the floor, while Rory was pretending to drink from an empty cup, her knuckles white from holding it so tightly.


	12. Inevitable

A/N: First of all, sorry for the delay. Things got in the way, and then I cought The Big Bang Theory obsession, and it didn't make me write faster. Second of all, I dedicate this chapter to Jess Rory Fan, with thanks for all the reviews and motivating me to write, I wish you had an account so I could reply to you properly. Third of all, I'm still not happy with this chapter, and I really don't think I ever will be. Let's just hope I'll do better with the next/last one. Don't forget to review! Oh, and thanks for all the reviews for the previous one, the response has been amazing!

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

* * *

"Arguing again?" Matt asked easily, making his way over to them and taking hold of the coffee pot.

"Um-hmm," Rory nodded.

"What about this time?"

"Same old stuff," Jess replied grouchily.

"Right. Well, don't let me interrupt you."

Deliberately or not, Matthew started humming _There Is A Light That Never Goes Out _under his breath as he took out milk from the refrigerator and sugar from the cabinet. Rory and Jess both stared at his back in a mix of disbelief, irritation and confusion, not meeting each other's eyes, until the cell phone in the pocket of Rory's jeans rang.

"Hi Mom," she said into the receiver, letting out a slightly relieved sigh. "What do you mean where am I? ... _What? _Mom, that's... No, I'm at Truncheon. Luke should have the address... I can't believe you _did_ this!" she exclaimed with a smile, the eyes of both boys on her. "Yeah, I'll wait out front. Yay!" Then she disconnected, and for the first time in minutes looked at Jess, with a rather panicked expression. "My Mom and Luke will be here in about ten minutes."

"_What?_"

"Exactly what I said!" she cried. "Oh my goodness. I hate surprises."

"Uh..." Matthew cut in. "Then I should probably get started on making that lunch."

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Rory asked, running into the embrace of her mother.

"I didn't know about this," Luke said gruffly, yet with a small smile, getting out of the car.

Lorelai hugged her daughter tightly. "Yes, I've kidnapped him. We went to Hartford to run some errands in the morning and then the road seemed so nice and empty that we drove on and on and we somehow ended up here. How odd is that?"

"Oh, so now all roads lead to Philly?" Rory suggested.

"Clearly," Lorelai grinned and pulled away an arm's length to look at her daughter. "Have you grown? You look like you've grown."

"Mother, I've stopped growing about ten years ago. And you haven't seen me for two weeks. We've gone on for longer than that."

"Yes, but you're so far away from mommy now. And... apparently it made you forget that a lady brushes her hair in the morning."

"Oh, it's, um... the wind."

"Inside the building?"

"The windows are open."

"Not knocked out?"

"Open, I promise," Rory said, moving away from her mother's curious gaze. "Hey, Luke," she welcomed her soon-to-be-stepfather with a quick hug. "Well, let's go inside, shall we?"

"Mmm, smell of dust," Lorelai mock-praised as they entered the narrow stairway. "Hon, why are you here and not at yours anyway?" she inquired.

"Well, Matt and I are doing inventory. That's the bookshop, right here," she pointed to the door they were passing on their right for the elder Gilmore.

"What about Jess, is he not doing inventory?" Luke frowned.

"Oh, he... I think he just got up not long ago."

Luke scoffed.

"Why are _you_ doing inventory?" Lorelai shot another question.

"Just to pay them back somehow. For letting me stay."

"That's ridiculous, you don't need to pay."

"Luke, it's okay, I offered," she assured. "Well, here we go."

She let Lorelai and Luke in first, noting with a hidden smile that Jess must have just straightened out the cushions on the couch and got rid of pizza boxes that usually cluttered the corner of the room. Their eyes met nervously for a brief second before Jess and Luke greeted each other, hesitantly approaching each other and exchanging an awkward but rather warm hug with a pat on the back.

Rory smiled. "Mom, Jess, Jess, my Mom," she motioned between them.

"Hi," Jess started, extending his hand.

"Hi," Lorelai answered with a tight smile, pretending not to see his gesture.

Rory's smile faded. "O-kay. Now come on, Mom, Matthew's in the kitchen," she said, giving her mother a pointed look.

"Something smells amazing," Lorelai said as the group followed Rory and started exchanging pleasantries with Matt. "Rory told me a lot about you, but I didn't know that you cook."

"Occasionally. I hope you like omelettes, Miss Gilmore."

"I'll eat everything as long as it's not green. And it's Lorelai," she smiled easily at the young man.

"Lorelai, tea, coffee?" Jess asked, his eyes briefly stopping on the pot that some fifteen minutes before was a witness of a certain event that he would gladly ponder on, but the current circumstances didn't let him.

"Oh, has my daughter taught you nothing?" Lorelai scoffed. "Never even offer tea to a Gilmore, it's insulting to our taste buds," she answered exaggeratingly.

Rory's eyes narrowed on her mother. "She'll have coffee. Mom, let me show you where the bathroom is first."

The elder Gilmore eyed her daughter with slight confusion but she followed her out of the kitchen.

"Okay, Mom, what's with the Emily treatment?" Rory asked incredulously, her eyes wide. "I was half expecting you to add 'young man' at the end of that sentence."

"Oh, please. No Emily treatment, I'm just trying to back you up."

"On _what_?"

"Treatment of jerks of the world. In this case Jess. You don't like him, so I don't like him either."

"Mom, he might be a jerk, but I," she considered her words for a second, "don't not like him. I certainly don't want you to be mean to him," she finished firmly, but it didn't seem to make an impression on her mother.

"Rory, honey, he offered me tea."

"Mom, please, think about Luke," she switched to a more pleading tone. Jess is pretty much the closest family he's got, it would be awful if the two of you hated each other."

Lorelai sighed. "Ah, I hate it when you're right."

"So you'll stop this ridiculous being mean thing?"

"I'll try. I must say, it did come naturally, just as you said. You sure you don't hate him?"

"Positive."

"Okay. That's good, I suppose, because come December 28th you'll have to be making out, being the maid of honour and the best man and all."

"Ugh," Rory stuttered, tucking her hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. "We'll see about that."

"And while we're at the subject of the wedding, guess what?"

"What?"

"I have finally decided what kind of skirt my dress should have. Isn't that exciting?"

* * *

"I actually liked _Funny Face_ better," Matt declared, passing Lorelai ketchup.

"Thanks. Yes, but then, if you have to choose between Fred Astaire and William Holden-" Lorelai trailed off, taking a bite.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know," Matthew replied with a smirk.

"You have to take my word then. This," she pointed the fork at her plate, "this is amazing. Rory, marry him, would you? He cooks _and_ he's seen most of Audrey's movies. _I_ would marry him if there already wasn't a queue to me," she finished, nudging Luke with her elbow and sending him a sweet smile to receive a slightly amused one in return.

Watching the exchange, Rory grinned while Jess frowned. "We can adopt him instead," Rory laughed.

Then the door to the apartment opened and Chris stepped in, carrying a box presumably full of food. Greetings and introductions began, followed by a dozen of questions about why he came back so early (Aunt Augustine who liked to pinch his cheeks showed up so he had to evacuate), how long did Lorelai and Luke's drive take (four hours and twenty five minutes), and what happened at Truncheon since the previous night when he talked to Matthew (nothing at all).

Chris joined them at the table, requesting that Rory scooted over so there would be space for him too, and she did as she was asked, suddenly finding herself in very close proximity to Jess. They locked gazes for one very awkward moment, ending with her licking her lips and turning her eyes to her plate, examining her omlette like she'd never seen anything of the kind before. Accidently or not, Jess's hand brushed against her leg under the table and she felt blood rush towards her face. She attacked her food with even more fervour, not daring to look up and see if anyone noticed the change of her demeanour.

Soon, the conversation at the table shifted towards the touristic sites in Philadelphia, with Matthew generously sharing facts and opinions, Chris chiming in constantly, Lorelai reminiscing about her catastrophic visit to the city with Emily and Richard in '83 and even Luke grunting every now and again. The two who didn't participate in the heated conversation weren't really noticed as they sat side by side, both wishing very hard that the remaining four would disappear and they could talk; or at least that something changed around the table so they wouldn't have to sit right next to each other, thinking about the fact that a mere hour earlier they were in that kitchen blissfully alone.

* * *

Sometime later, Lorelai declared that she simply couldn't wait any longer to see Rory's apartment, so it was decided that the girls would walk over there and Luke would join them in a couple of hours. As Lorelai proceeded to exchange parting lines with Chris and Matt, her new favourite person in the world, Rory, in the corner by the door, was lacing up her shoes.

"Hey," came a whisper from above, and she raised her head to see Jess standing next to her with his hands in his pockets, clearly trying to look casual. She stood up, shaking off invisible dust off her jeans and gave him a questionable look. "Call me when they're gone, huh?"

She hesitated for a second, suddenly struck with how much she could see in those brown eyes, until she managed to nod, and then she almost ran out of the apartment, because those eyes, she realised for the first time, hid a warm smile that was just for her.

* * *

"You what?" Lorelai screeched an hour later, almost spilling coffee all over Rory's sofa, making her daughter wince.

"We kissed," Rory repeated.

"But... why?"

"Mom, do I have to explain this to you? When a girl and a boy like each other..."

"Okay, okay, I don't want to hear it! It's just, you spent two weeks telling me what a jerk he is, kid, and now you're kissing him all of the sudden, I'm just surprised."

"I'm not kissing him, it was just a kiss. Well, two, technically," she mumbled, more to herself. "It just turns out that all the jerkiness was kind of... our way of, you know. Flirting."

"And you were really that oblivious to it?"

"Yes, I was."

"I am ashamed, loin fruit."

"Hello? Do you want me to bring up you and Luke and your years of denial?"

"No, thank you. This Jess kid still looks like trouble to me. Besides, believe me, I made Luke dig up some old pictures just the other day and he found only one of Jess, when he was around six-months-old, and let me tell you, he was a very chubby baby."

"Aw, really?" Rory grinned.

"Stop it! You're not supposed to find a guy's baby pictures endearing until you are _years_ into a relationship."

"You're making this up. Were his eyes already dark?" she added, beginning to enjoy her mother's discomfort.

"I don't know, I was too busy melting over how cute 22-year-old Luke with a baby in his arms was. And speaking of, you know that once Luke and I get married, you guys are going to be, like, cousins!" Lorelai exclaimed exaggeratedly.

"Step," Rory corrected. "Mom," she sighed. "Please don't spoil it for me."

Lorelai exhaled a dramatic sigh of her own.

"I'm just worried about you, Rory. You are far, far away from mommy, and you've only known this guy for two weeks," she pointed out. "...The kiss was good, I take it," she added as an afterthought, receiving a mumbled reply from her daughter. "What was that?"

"Understatement," Rory said, a light blush covering her face.

Lorelai shook her head. "But you do realise that even the greatest kisses don't necessarily mean a good relationship."

"Of course I do. And, Mom, I don't even know if there will be any relationship out of it. Maybe we'll just-"

"Rory, if you are even considering a casual fling with this guy, I swear, I will have to pull out the Mom Card, dusty as it is. I thought you've realised by now that you're not the casual kind of girl. And this is not someone you can just break up with and forget at any given moment, he's going to be in the extended family!"

"Mom! Mom, calm down, please. First of all, _definitely_ no casual flings. Second of all, what you're saying is kind of freaking me out, but I... I guess I want to give this thing a chance. I know I haven't known him long but we've hung out a lot and... Well, actually we fought most of the time."

"Then why, Rory? Was it the kiss?" Lorelai pushed, keeping her voice soft though, more concerned about than upset with her daughter.

"Yes. No," Rory stuttered. "It's more than that," she said finally, frantically waving her arms, making her mother stop mid-motion.

"Oh boy. You're in love with him," she declared with a deflated expression.

"What?" Rory laughed. "That's ridi-culous," she finished the word slowly, her face falling and eyes widening. "I mean, you don't fall in love with someone in two weeks. And without really noticing. Please tell me it's ridiculous," she finished, looking at Lorelai with an expression of a confused little girl.

"Not really, no. He reads, he writes, he bickers with you constantly, he's... I guess I can see why you would be. Doesn't mean I like it."

"I... I don't know about all... this."

"Take your time to figure it out. Just don't you dare come home with any new ring on your finger."

"I'm in Philly, not in Vegas."

"Away from me, that's what counts."

"You're scarily dependant on me," she said grouchily, still tryint to process what her mother just told her.

"Not at all, daughter dearest. Can I tell Luke about this? Because we have this pact about not keeping secrets."

"I know. But ... can you at least wait until I figure this out? And maybe see what Jess's reaction to all this is?"

"Well, I guess I'll have to Scotch tape my mouth."

"I'm sure you can do without it."

"You seriously overestimate your mother, kid. It's like that incident when you were four and you wanted me to bake cookies for you all over again. Just promise me you'll be very careful and you'll keep me updated."

"I promise."

"Good. Now can we move on to another topic? Because I've been dying to tell you about what did Kirk on Friday."

"Ooh, I'm all ears..."

* * *

After Lorelai and Luke's rather sudden departure, complete with an extended hug and a vague yet inappropriate joke from her mother, Rory sat herself down on her couch, with the phone close witin reach. She fumbled with it for some ten minutes, trying to decide how to proceed, what she wanted to say to Jess, or what she actually wanted, period. Having failed to reach any definite conclusions, she anxiously dialled, realising that her heartbeat was unusually quick for a person who had mostly just been sitting for the past few hours.

She was lucky enough that when Chris answered the phone, he did so while eating, so he didn't ask any questions when she asked him to pass the phone to Jess.

"Hey," came his voice from the other end of the line.

"Hi."

"Interesting day, huh?"

"Feels like some very elaborate nightmare sequence to me."

"Nightmare you say?"

"Well, not... not all of it. It's just been chaotic and confusing."

"Better. Look, Rory, these two are trying to listen in, can we meet?"

"Uh, now?"

"Yeah. Do you know where Rittenhouse Square is?"

"I've walked through there, yes."

"Good. Meet me there in half an hour."

"Uh... I don't know, Jess, it looks like it might rain."

"Consult your Hollywood, Gilmore, rain's romantic," he told her sarcastically. "Besides, I look darn good with my hair all wet."

Her jaw dropped open, half in amusement and half in disbelief. She shook her head. "Don't make me have second thoughts about meeting you in the first place," she told him sternly, despite a smile creeping onto her lips.

"Rory, come on," he said, but with none of the previous mocking; in fact, his voice was almost pleading, and she had to cover her mouth, because she was pretty sure she was just about to pathetically whimper.

"9.30 then?" she asked quietly.

"By the pool."

"Okay. See you there."

* * *

The evening was sultry and begging for rain, but the small park created an oasis of sorts; it was completely still despite the chatter from nearby restaurants; with the smell of freshly mowed grass filling the air.

When Rory arrived, Jess was already sitting on a bench with a book in front of his face, tilting it so it would catch some light. She approached him slowly and sat down next to him, responding to his smirk with her own, slightly self-conscious one.

"Do you want to be blind by the time you're thirty?" she asked as he closed his book with a small thud.

"Already am."

"Seriously?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

"Sort of. I can't see shit in the distance," he explained lazily, putting one hand in his pocket.

Immediately, Rory got a little less tense too, and rested her own back against the back of the bench. Then she said teasingly, "Rephrase that for me, please?"

He only responded with giving her a good-natured eye roll.

They were silent for the next few moments, both looking ahead, both pretending to be buried in their own thoughts while in fact they were hyper-sensitive to each other's every little movement.

Rory, moreover, had Lorelai's words still ringing in her head, and she was the one who could not stand any more of the silence.

"What were you about to say when Matt came in?" she finally broke it, still looking ahead, her voice on the verge of shaking with the tension.

Jess stole a quick glance at her, she could feel it, before his eyes returned to a spot in front of him. She fidgeted with her sleeves while he remained silent.

"That I'm not messing with you," he admitted after a few long seconds, making her hands freeze mid-movement while her head turned sharply to get a look at him. "... As opposed to what you said yesterday in the gallery," he added. "You, however, Miss Mixed Signals... what am _I _supposed to think here?"

She gaped at him, like a fish lacking water. "You think _I_'ve been messing with _you_?"

"Well, when you're sitting here and fidgeting like that, no. But when... Have you read _Slam?"_

"By Nick Hornby?"

"Yeah," he confirmed and she nodded, too befuddled to add anything else. "That kid says something there. _'Sometimes you know you have a chance with a girl because she wants to fight with you'_ or something to that effect. True?"

"... I guess," Rory admitted, feeling heat spreading over her cheeks.

"Good," Jess smirked. "I thought it applied in this situation, but then sometimes your hatred towards me seems so genuine that I really think it'd be better if I pissed off."

"Jess, I don't hate you-" she said hastily before the first drop of rain fell on her forehead. When she felt the next few, she meaningfully cleared her throat before continuing. "I... I kind of wanted to, I suppose, but it's not really working for me. And believe me, I'm confused too, so if I've been sending mixed signals, it really wasn't intentional. It's just that... denial and I have always been very close friends. I can't really help it."

"Okay," he complied with what seemed to be a held back smile.

"Okay?" she watched him wide-eyed.

"Yeah. So what now?"

"Now it's drizzling and it couldn't be any _less_ romantic," she scoffed. "In movies it never drizzles. It always pours straight away."

"Another Hollywood lie," he smirked. "And don't change the subject."

"I uh... are you saying you want to date?" she asked, feeling like a complete and utter idiot.

"Other options include stopping seeing each other altogether, which won't work seeing as my roommates adore you and we're about to be bound by family ties, or starting to have casual sex, which wouldn't work for the reasons stated above and more," he recited confidently, clearly enjoying himself.

"Oh, so now dating you is my only option?" she asked, fighting a laugh.

"Looks that way."

"But... I mean, won't we kill each other?"

"Now that we've discovered the way of easing the tension, I don't think so," he chuckled lightly, making her roll her eyes and flush further in the semi-darkness.

She wanted to think and ponder on it but she found she couldn't; her mind seemed to be filled with static noise as his hand travelled across the bench towards her, and she blurted the first thing that rolled off her tongue. "Let's just stay here for a while." She nervously took a loose strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. "At least until your hair gets all wet," she dared to joke, a grin appearing on her lips.

He chuckled at that and his hand finally touched her elbow, softly tugging her to make her move closer. She did, although coyly, until their knees were touching.

"Awkward choice of activity, wasn't it?" Rory spoke nervously after a moment of silence.

"Rory," he spoke at the same time.

"Hmm?"

"You do realise that this thing with Morrissey and The Smiths is gonna be a problem?"

For a few seconds she looked at him incredulously, before what he said actually registered and she smiled. "I'll make you like them eventually."

"No, you won't. But you know, there is actually one song of theirs that I like."

"Really? Which one?"

"_Please Let Me Get What I Want_. But only the cover by Muse."

"I can live with that," she grinned, somehow mere centimetres away from him now. He opened his mouth, about to reply, but then changed his mind, and only pulled her closer.

Before his lips crushed to hers, Rory had one last fleeting thought, that it was a strangely apposite song to mention.

And then there was nothing but Jess, rain and sweet, sweet abandon.


End file.
